Shell Brazil invests in solution for inspecting FPSO tanks

Shell Brazil, Aberdeen-based inspection technology and service provider for the oil and gas industry, Innospection, and SENAI CIMATEC technology institute in Brazil, have recently signed a partnership agreement to develop a robot-based technology for in-service inspection of cargo oil tanks of FPSOs.

This robot system called MCCR (MEC Combi Crawler Robot) will be deployed externally to the hull of Shell-operated and non-operated FPSOs worldwide.

The robot will be able to clean marine fouling on ship hull, detect defect size and depth, among other features. This will allow for a potential increase in tank inspection efficiency, thus improving integrity and increasing safety for FPSOs.

This solution is expected to allow for cost savings of 20% to 30% in tank inspections, when used in combination with other robotic inspection tools like aerial drones.

The project will cost approximately $9 million, from which $4.5 million will be funded by Shell Brasil through the ANP research levy on oil and gas revenues.