Classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) reports that it has successfully completed its first full in-water ship’s hull survey with a mini ROV (remotely operated vehicle) on Brittany Ferries’ ship Bretagne, in conjunction with service provider MaDfly – Marine Drone Services.
The survey, which was supervised by Bureau Veritas on behalf of the French Flag, provided an opportunity to validate the integrity of the bottom of the entire ship’s hull.
The test survey was performed twice, with a remotely operated drone performing an in-water survey with a BV surveyor onboard the vessel. In parallel, Bureau Veritas also tested the capability with its own remote inspection systems using live video footage from MaDfly.
This allowed the class society to carry out the survey remotely without any attended surveyor onboard using live streaming, as well as video and audio recording and photo capabilities.
“Brittany Ferries has always invested in research and development and this partnership is a success. This underwater inspection with a mini ROV demonstrated the technical relevance of this method and reduced the inspection time,” said Arnaud Le Poulichet, Technical Director for Brittany Ferries.
