DNV GL’s remote surveys surge with 15,000 completed since launch

The impact of the global COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the value of DNV GL’s industry first remote survey services. With some 15,000 surveys and inspections undertaken since the launch in October 2018, customers have benefited from greater flexibility and efficiency through the continued digitalization and integration of DNV GL’s class services.

At DNV GL it is vital our customers continue to operate and deliver without disruptions to class services, and at the same time it is essential not to compromise the safety of crews and surveyors. While our offices, surveyors and experts remain to be in operation, remote surveys have provided the flexibility customers need, with global round the clock coverage, and improved efficiency through reduced travel times and increased availability.

“In these challenging times we are seeing the benefits of the full scope of digitalization initiatives that we have been building up over the past few years,” says Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO, DNV GL – Maritime. “The use of remote surveys has meant that we have been able to limit disruptions to customer operations resulting from travel bans or quarantines involving our surveyors. Ship operators are able to receive immediately updated and verified electronic certificates, which make their business dealing with class, authorities and vendors much more efficient. This has all been backed by expert teams in the regions and through our DATE hubs, which cover technical and survey requests around the globe 24/7 and have solved 500,000 cases since the launch of the service five years ago.”

Remote surveys were first rolled out by DNV GL in October of 2018 and have been gaining in popularity ever since. In 2019, for some survey types, up to 25% of all surveys were conducted remotely, with more than one third of customers having utilised the service at least once.

Customers are able to request remote surveys around the clock, independent of port calls, location, and time zone. Remote surveys are being offered both through DNV GL’s global DATE (Direct Access to Technical Experts) service, delivered through expert teams from Høvik, Singapore, Hamburg, Houston and Piraeus, and via regional offices.

About Remote Surveys:
Remote surveys and inspection mean that for a range of surveys, a DNV GL surveyor will not be required to travel to the vessel. Instead, by using an online connection or video streaming link, a dedicated team of remote surveyors can provide support to vessels anywhere in the world with documentation, images, video (streaming or recordings), and input provided by the customer and crew onboard. Some periodical survey items can also be handled remotely, subject to flag acceptance, where required.