A drone developed to improve maritime safety has won the Plimsoll Award for Innovation for a partnership comprising AkzoNobel’s Marine Coatings Business.
The award recognizes the efforts of the group including Barrier Group, DroneOps, Safinah and a major oil tanker operator, to d[ds_preview]evelop an unmanned aircraft to carry out remote inspections.
The project, called RECOMMS (Remote Evaluation of Coatings and Corrosion on Offshore Marine Structures and Ships), uses virtual reality technology and semi-autonomous operation of a drone to remotely inspect ballast tanks, and other difficult to access areas on vessels and offshore structures such as wind farms.
RECOMMS has been fully funded by AkzoNobel, Barrier Group, Drone Ops, and a major oil tanker operator with part funding from Innovate UK and additional expertise provided by Marine Technical Limits.
The Plimsoll Award is presented each year to individuals and organizations that embody the spirit of Samuel Plimsoll, the founding father of the award. Plimsoll (1824-1898) was a Member of Parliament in Britain who dedicated his career to fighting against unsafe maritime industry practices.
