Skeye BV and Bureau Veritas Sign Partnership Deal

Skeye BV and Bureau Veritas have signed a worldwide collaboration agreement to carry out inspections and deliver qualitative inspection reports using remotely piloted UAVs. With their complex technical solutions, both companies are already active in the oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical and other heavy manufacturing industries. The two companies have complementary expertise and their activities will reinforce one another.

Skeye will use unmanned aerial systems equipped with different sensors in order to capture high-quality and detailed data in places that would otherwise be too difficult, dangerous or expensive to access, such as flare or vent systems. Previously, such a site could only be inspected after the entire system had been shut down, which is a very costly process. Inspectors would then have to ascend the structure by crane or using ropes or scaffolding in order to inspect it. This not only involved considerable safety risks but was also time consuming and hence expensive. Using UAVs, Skeye can now perform an inspection without having to shut down the system.

The specialised inspectors of Bureau Veritas have amassed their expertise within various related technical environments. They are certified to perform inspections by professionally interpreting the gathered data and subsequently presenting their findings on the integrity of the system or structure in an official inspection report.  The data comprises high-resolution photographic, video and/or infrared images. Based on the interpretation of the data, the system can be approved, or plans can be made for additional inspection or maintenance work if necessary.

Stockpiles

Another type of inspection relates to stockpiles. Thanks to its survey expertise, Skeye can conduct fast and cost-efficient aerial stockpile inspections which are accurate to within a few centimetres. This helps the customer to determine how much stock is available at various locations at any given time. The company Inspectorate, which is part of Bureau Veritas, can assess the quality of the stockpiles based on samples. Combined, this information can provide input for the annual or half-yearly financial report for example.

Together, Skeye and Bureau Veritas form an innovative and professional total product which can save customers lots of time and money, which is safer than the current method and which equals – or even improves – the quality of the final result. By working together, they can extend the geographic scope of their activities to serve customers all over the world while maintaining the same level of quality.

The image shows Anton Janssens (sales manager industry The Netherlands, Bureau Veritas) (left) and Jan van Liebergen (business development manager, Skeye).