AkzoNobel Partners to Use Drone Technology for Marine Inspection

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday February 2, 2017

Akzo Nobel N.V. (AkzoNobel) Wednesday announced that, along with Barrier Group and DroneOps, it is working to develop a drone to remotely inspect vessels' enclosed spaces, ballast water tanks, and coatings.

"By replacing human inspections with a drone, routine maintenance can be monitored remotely and in real time by office-based staff, with instant feedback available to the vessel or offshore structure’s superintendent," said AkzoNobel.

"This in turn will reduce costs, increase efficiency and significantly reduce risk to human life during essential maintenance."

AkzoNobel says coatings consultancy Safinah Ltd (Safinah) will provide additional coatings expertise to support the companies' drone development.

"Surveys of enclosed spaces and ballast water tanks are an essential part of routine maintenance and are increasingly critical for ship owners," said Michael Hindmarsh, Business Development Manager at AkzoNobel’s Marine Coatings business.

"Inspecting these areas thoroughly can require working at height, entering confined spaces and negotiating slippery surfaces that could be poorly lit, all of which are high-risk activities that the maritime industry is keen to address."

AkzoNobel, which is already testing and using drone technology, says the new project will see the developed drone undergo flight trials at its UK coatings test site, as well as Barrier Group's indoor training facility.

The drone's completion and launch is slated for October 2017.

In September, AkzoNobel said its new biocide-free fouling control coating, Intersleek 1000, had demonstrated fuel consumption and CO2 reductions of up to 6 percent.