The survey was completed on Tuesday with the assistance of POSSM Co, the largest ship management company in Korea, and HST Technology, which supplied the technology for remote inspection.

Since 2017, KR's surveyors have used remote inspection technologies such as drones for surveys. The equipment enables the surveyor to inspect the vessel without direct access being needed.

KR has expanded the variety of inspection methods used since the launch of the service, offering customers a more reliable and safer inspection service that complements the conventional ship survey system and meets the requirements of the industry.

Ship surveys usually include a close-up survey and a calculation of the hull structures' thickness. But surveyors must ascend scaffolding that can be higher than a five-story apartment building to complete the process.

Drones can be use for inspecting the highest areas, but a scaffold was still required to complete the evaluation of the thickness measurement, making the service inconvenient for shipowners. But it is now possible to calculate the thickness of the hull at any point, no matter how high, without scaffolding, using a crawler drone capable of climbing up and down walls, making drone surveys much more realistic and profitable.

"Remote inspection technology using such devices as drones and crawlers offer ship surveyors an exceptional decision-making tool, ensuring that the survey quality is equal to or higher than, that of a direct inspection. KR continues to apply new technologies to its services to increase the efficiency and simplicity of the survey work process and to improve the safety of the working environment for shipping company representatives and our surveyors,” said Yoon Boo-geun, EVP, KR Survey Division.

Maritime Business World