Bureau Veritas (BV), in collaboration with Sembcorp Marine and Nokia, has completed a trial of remote surveys in Singapore in a move to embrace digitalisation, as Covid-19 has severely disrupted traditional manned surveys.
Classification society BV said the successful trial has paved the way for establishing a new class procedure for the remote inspection of vessels under construction.
At the pilot trial conducted in August 2020, BV, Nokia and Sembmarine test-bedded remote surveys on a newbuild vessel construction at Sembmarine’s Tuas Boulevard Yard. Various checks were carried out to assess the integrity of the hull components, which were in various stages of construction. The checks included material verification, panel fit-up, as well as visual inspections of the sub-assembly block.
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“The pandemic situation has led to an acceleration of remote survey techniques. As we now move forward in our ever complex digital world, and manage new norms of working post Covid-19, we feel that true success is often about working collaboratively with stakeholders,” said David Barrow, BV vice president – marine & offshore, South Asia and Pacific.
Utilising digital technology, remote surveys can be performed at multiple locations with feedback transmitted to a single monitoring station. This optimises the waiting time between surveys and increases operational efficiencies by providing connectivity between all stakeholders involved, while minimising inspectors’ and workers’ exposure to onsite safety risks, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stuart M Hendry, head of Nokia Enterprise, Asia Pacific, said: “With our Fastmile 4G CPE solution and cloud-based digital collaboration platform for remote tools, both BV and Sembcorp Marine teams working in the shipyard can communicate and work seamlessly together.”
Sembmarine said that as part of its innovation and sustainability strategy, the shipyard group has embraced Industry 4.0 technologies including digital design, advanced manufacturing and the Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIOT) to boost its production capabilities and capacity.
With the successful pilot trial, BV, Nokia and Sembmarine said they have further reinforced the feasibility of complementing remote surveying with specific traditional surveys without compromising personnel safety and survey quality. Such remote service delivery will likely become the new normal in vessel surveys.
