Tank inspections being carried out by 'crawler' drones: Maersk
Tank inspections have evolved from just flying a drone overhead to creating a "crawler" device, designed to navigate the tank's walls with an ultrasonic probe, gathering measurements of stiffeners and steel plates, and identifying signs of corrosion, according to Mark Fotheringham, director of facilities and projects in Maersk Oil's UK business. The company is also looking to utilise drone technology to generate detailed 3D maps of offshore assets, he said.
The offshore industry has been quick to embrace unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, for visual inspection tasks.

The technology ticks a lot of boxes in these cost-conscious times - they are fast, inexpensive, and require far fewer people on deck and in transit. They improve safety while delivering better data, users say.

Maersk Oil recognised the advantages of UAVs early on and made them part of its offshore inspection back in 2013.

“You could say we were early adopters of the technology,” says Mark Fotheringham, director of facilities and projects in the company’s UK business.