Adani Ports and Lloyd’s Register complete successful unmanned aerial system pilot
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) based in Mundra, India, has now completed a successful pilot to trial Port Crane Inspection Services from Lloyd’s Register (LR) using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) – more commonly known as a drone.
During the proof-of-concept exercise, the drone technology was used to inspect traditionally hard to reach areas such as the crane’s forestay, backstay, underneath the back reach, underneath of boom and A-frame-to-stays connections.
“The pilot has been a fantastic experience,” commented Adani Head of Engineering & Projects, Jimmy Bhansari. “Traditionally we have used scaffolding to enable surveyors to inspect cranes and it has been difficult to access certain areas. The drones have helped us save time while removing the restrictions on where we can inspect, with less risk involved. We see this as revolutionary in port crane maintenance operations.”
Drone assisted Inspection Services
Adani Ports plans to use the drone again during the next inspection to highlight changes in the condition of the crane which will help identify areas of focus for future maintenance work.
LR’s Innovation Lead for the area, Chin Chee Tan said: “As the port cranes enter into service, they require periodic in-service inspections to ensure they remain in optimum condition. These inspections involve several technical investigations including document review, risk-condition ranking and visual inspection. Using drone technology combined with the expertise of our surveyors who interpret the images to make engineering-based judgements, a provides a cost-effective solution to businesses.”
The pilot follows a twelve-year working relationship during which LR has provided port crane new build quality assurance, quality control and turnkey services to various Ports of APSEZ.
Drone technology is one of many innovation projects currently in development at LR.