Integrating Drones and Robotics for Maritime Tank Inspections
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At last year’s Energy Drone & Robotics Summit, Steven Treviño of Shell shared how drones and robotics are transforming maritime tank inspections—particularly in the high-risk environments of offshore cargo oil tanks and ballast tanks. His session highlighted the crucial role of robotics in enhancing safety, reducing costs, and improving data quality in offshore inspections.
The High-Stakes Challenge of Offshore Inspections
Operating in offshore environments comes with extreme costs and safety risks. Treviño emphasized that "doing something offshore is 10x the cost of doing it onshore," making efficiency a top priority. Traditional inspection methods require personnel to enter hazardous confined spaces or work at dangerous heights, hanging from ropes or scaffolding. Robotics and drones, he noted, offer a safer and cost-effective alternative.
The Role of Drones in Maritime Tank Inspections
With drones becoming a dominant force in industrial inspections, Treviño explained Shell’s structured approach to leveraging their capabilities:
High-resolution cameras enable inspectors to zoom in on structural details without sacrificing image clarity.
LIDAR for SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) allows drones to navigate beyond visual line of sight inside tanks.
Gas detectors, OGI cameras, and thermal imaging provide additional layers of data for analysis.
“What we’re aiming to do is structure our data so that it’s standardized,” said Treviño. “That way, we can then apply all of the algorithms, machine learning, and machine vision filters—which then lends itself toward autonomy.”
Cleaning: The Missing Link in Robotics Inspections
One of the biggest challenges in tank inspections is cleaning before data collection. While robots are excellent at inspecting, they still rely on human crews to prepare the surfaces. Treviño pointed out that cleaning remains a manual process, but there’s a growing need to integrate robotic cleaning technologies.
“If there aren’t technologies available to clean these pieces of equipment using robots, we’re only solving a small portion of the workflow,” he noted. Future advancements in robotic cleaning will be key to streamlining pre-inspection maintenance.
A New Era of Offshore Inspections
Shell integrates multiple technologies—drones, crawlers, submersibles—to create a toolbox of solutions tailored for different inspection needs. One standout example is the ScoutDI system, which combines high-quality imaging with LIDAR-based localization.
About the ScoutDI system, Treviño said, “This is one of the systems that we believe is ideal for doing these kinds of activities where we want general visual inspection, close visual inspection, and UT [ultrasonic testing] point measurements.”
He also touted the quick access to inspection data, which they can upload and review as soon as flights are completed. Faster access to high-quality structured data means better decision-making and reduced downtime.
The Future: Autonomous Inspections and AI
When asked about AI and automation related to this work, Treviño pointed to Shell’s collaboration with the DNV-led REDHUS (remote drone-based ship hull survey) project, which combines autonomous drone flights with automated defect recognition. By filtering out unnecessary images, AI can dramatically reduce manual review time.
“We are looking at these opportunities, but right now we’re still doing manual flights,” he shared.
Watch the Full Session and Join Us Iune
Treviño’s session underscored the exciting future of robotic inspections in the offshore energy sector. To dive deeper into these innovations, watch the full session on demand.
Want to stay ahead in offshore and other drone and robotic technologies? Join us at this year’s Energy Drone & Robotics Summit—where the industry’s top experts showcase the latest advancements.
