Bureau Veritas Uses AI to Detect Corrosion During Bulker Inspection

Bureau Veritas (BV) said it deployed its artificial intelligence (AI) solution in real survey conditions for corrosion detection during a hull inspection of a water ballast tank on a bulk carrier by an aerial drone. The test was conducted in partnership with the RIT operator, MaDfly Marine Drone Services Ltd, in Dunkirk, France.

During the hull inspection, the BV solution supported the surveyor during his general visual inspection and close-up survey of the hull by providing results on the video in real-time. The application also has the capacity to run offline without any connection to internet, and it can be deployed on the field with the computing capacity of a normal computer.

According to BV, this proof of concept is a first step toward enabling shipowners and managers to anticipate necessary repairs. Moving forward, BV will further improve the solution and include new functions, leveraging its surveyors' experience and data collected from digital technologies such as remote inspection techniques, the company said.

With a more holistic perspective, this development is a continuation of BV’s Digital Classification program that aims to transform its classification operating model through 3D-classification, remote and augmented surveys, and predicted and optimized survey schemes, BV said.

Laurent Leblanc, Senior Vice President Technical & Operations for Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, said, “Digitalization is changing our daily lives and the use of AI in the shipping industry can make a real difference, helping the industry to be more effective with improved inspection standards and maintenance techniques. The ambition for Bureau Veritas is to develop an end-to-end solution that will support ship owners and ship managers in anticipating repairs and better maintaining the hull condition of the ship. It will also support BV’s team of surveyors by building their collective experience and knowledge around corrosion detection underpinned by AI solutions.”