Japan’s MODEC and Terra Drone Corporation, a compatriot drone and urban air mobility (UAM) technology company, have tucked what is said to be the world’s first approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a classification society, for a drone-based FPSO hull thickness measurement under their belts.

This comes after MODEC joined forces with Terra Drone Corporation to pursue the technical development of inspection drones for FPSO vessels and large offshore platforms. The two firms have now confirmed the completion of the drone-based hull thickness measurement of a crude oil storage tank of the FPSO Cidade de Mangaratiba MV24 – operated by the Japanese giant in Brazil – which was done by November 12, 2023.