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What else can drones be used for in shipping? We have heard about how Amazon has been contemplating using drones for delivery, but what else can it be used for? Maintenance of course! K Line (Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha) in partnership with Technos Mihara Corporation has developed an innovative method for drones to be used for ship hull inspection and maintenance. The shipping line found a solution to maintain the quality of its fleet. They implemented a ship management policy called “KL-QUALITY” which helps them create a high-level and systematic ship inspection programme which will be carried out by professional superintendents. It used to be very difficult to access and inspect areas such as the top side of the cargo hold and the ship hull underwater and insure that they were being maintained regularly. With the testing of this drone operation and image analysis, during on-site trials, K Line noticed the improvement of efficiency, safety, as well as the effectiveness of the inspection. It also helped with automated maintenance conducted by the drones. Using drones help give you control as you continue your business operations as usual. Generally, inspections make use of ladders, ropes and rigs to scale large machinery and towers, oversee processes and locate bottlenecks, but this is a risky process. Sometimes this involves shutting down the machinery to provide safety to the inspectors. This, however, does lead to significant financial implications. A solution like this should be able to provide a reliable and on-demand aerial date with premium processing and analytical capability while also making the inspection process simpler. Both K Line and Technos Mihara Corporation are ready to move to the new phase. They would like to combine the drone and digital analysis technology of Technos Mihara with K Line’s ship management expertise.