Modernising Jetty and Marine Structural Inspections with Confined Space Drones and AI

Inspecting marine infrastructure such as jetties, piers, and loading docks is a critical task for maintaining safety, performance, and environmental compliance. However, the harsh, corrosive, and complex environments in which these structures exist often make inspections hazardous, time-consuming, and costly. Traditional methods typically rely on rope access, divers, scaffolding, or workboats to access confined or submerged areas introducing risk to personnel and disruption to marine operations.

In recent years, the application of confined space drone technology combined with AI and machine learning (ML) has brought a step change in how marine infrastructure is surveyed and maintained. This modern approach offers safer, faster, and more insightful inspections, particularly for hard to access or high risk components of jetties and similar structures.

The Challenge of Inspecting Jetties and Marine Structures

Jetties and quays typically involve a combination of timber, steel and concrete elements, often exposed to tidal forces, saltwater corrosion, and impact from vessels. Inspection areas may include:

• · Underside of decks
• · Pile caps and cross beams
• · Splash zones and tidal interfaces
• · Confined spaces within caissons, ducts, or service voids

Conventional access methods such as scaffolding, rope descent, or diver led surveys carry:

• · High safety risk due to marine conditions
• · Expensive mobilisation of personnel and support vessels
• · Limited visual access, especially in tight or dark spaces
• · Time intensive setups, resulting in operational downtime
• · Confined Space Drone Technology: A Safer, Smarter Alternative

Our confined space drone equipped with collision tolerant cage, obstacle avoidance, LIDAR and LED lighting, is specifically designed to navigate complex and unstructured environments.

When deployed for jetty or marine inspections, these drones can:

• · Fly beneath decks, into service tunnels, or around submerged piles during low tide.
• · Eliminate the need for scaffolding, climbing gear, or confined space permits for human entry.
• · Minimise downtime, allowing inspections during live marine operations.
• · Capture high-resolution video, still imagery, and thermal data from within dark, GPS-denied spaces.
• · Capture a 3D point cloud using slam based LIDAR technology and this can be used for measurement’s, visualisation and converted into CAD or REVIT models.

AI and Machine Learning: Turning Visual Data into Actionable Insights

Capturing digital data is only half the process. Increasingly, AI and ML tools are used to analyse drone imagery to detect structural defects and anomalies with greater speed and consistency than human reviewers.

Key applications of AI/ML include:

• · Defect Detection: Computer vision algorithms can identify cracks, corrosion, spalling, and delamination on concrete, timber or steel surfaces.
• · Predictive Maintenance: ML algorithms assess changes over time, helping to predict failure points before they occur.
• · Automated Reporting: Annotated images and condition classifications are automatically embedded into reports. 3D models or digital twins can be generated using photogrammetry or LIDAR providing a permanent visual record.

Real-World Impact: Safer, Faster, and More Cost-Effective

• · Improved Safety: No entry into hazardous confined marine areas
• · Faster Inspections: Reduced from weeks and months to days
• · Lower Costs: No scaffolding, dive teams, or access vessels
• · Better Insight: Digital records, defect tracking, AI predictions
• · Reduced Impact: Minimal disruption to marine ecosystems and port ops

For example, inspections of the underside of a jetty deck that might take three days with a rope access team can now be completed in a few hours using a drone without anyone leaving the deck. Additionally, AI can process thousands of image frames quickly, providing engineers with a shortlist of flagged anomalies for targeted review.

The Future of Marine Structure Monitoring

As drone technology advances further with improved flight stability, sensor accuracy, and autonomous navigation their use in marine asset management will only grow. Combined with AI, cloud platforms, and Building Information Modelling (BIM), they support a digital first approach to managing coastal infrastructure.

Confined space drones are not just tools of convenience—they represent a new standard of safety, insight, and efficiency in the maritime inspection sector. For owners of marine assets such as ports, terminals, oil and gas platforms, and coastal defenses, these technologies offer a scalable, sustainable way to maintain critical infrastructure in the face of ageing structures, climate pressures, and growing regulatory demands.