The use of drones is another technology adopted by the Forship Group in offshore projects.

Forship is implementing drone inspections for equipment to enhance its operations in the offshore environment. “Drone inspections enable us to issue integrity reports for platforms more quickly and subsequently open maintenance orders for services such as boilerwork, welding, or painting. Additionally, we eliminate the exposure of our staff to risks, reducing rope access and scaffolding activities,” says Operations Director Marco Antonio Kronemberger.

“The main objective is to ensure the integrity of installations with speed and quality in the services provided,” adds the executive, noting that the Forship Group currently has 25 unmanned fixed platforms under contract. “Sometimes, we cannot access them due to oceanographic conditions. However, drones can be launched from a barge and perform equipment inspections onboard the platform,” he explains.

Vision

“We have already conducted some tests with the inspection of oil well valves. In the offshore environment, we will capture images of various equipment installed on the topside of platforms, such as crane booms, floors, pipelines, railings, etc., to assess the condition of the equipment for future maintenance evaluations,” explains Project Manager Hudson Azevedo.

He emphasizes that the main advantage is the ability to access hard-to-reach areas that would otherwise require scaffolding or rope access (climbers), as well as launching drones from support vessels, eliminating the need for human access to the platform.

Director Marco Antonio Kronemberger envisions the use of drones in other projects as well. “We could use drones at the São Paulo LNG Regasification Terminal (TRSP) to conduct inspections along the 8-km pipeline easement between the terminal in Santos Bay and the custody transfer point in Cubatão,” he concludes.