These are tough times for many companies. In the COVID-19 period, there is often less work to be found, people are less willing to attend demonstrations and there are generally fewer investments. This often makes it harder to survive. But what if an investment can save or bring in a lot of money? Is it worth using reserves to save costs in the long run? See here whether buying an underwater drone can be really rewarding!
Asset management costs without inspections
Assets must be inspected regularly to prevent large-scale maintenance and to deal quickly with minor problems. Often, the government also stipulates that assets must be inspected periodically (every 10-25 years).
To save costs, an asset such as a bridge culvert may not be inspected for a year. This means that the costs are lower in that year, but it can cause problems in the long run!
It is precisely the large cost items that must be avoided in uncertain times, and so the focus can be on small preventative inspections to avoid this!
Costs of traditional inspections
Traditional inspections are carried out with divers, by engineering firms. You can hire this independent party to inspect the asset.
The cost of hiring is often arranged at a fixed price per day, or a fixed price for the total service.
Hiring means low costs, but these are costs that are often asked for. Certainly in the short term this will be a solution to avoid high costs, but is this also something for the long term?
Costs of inspections with an underwater drone
Unlike a diving team, you can also buy an underwater drone!
Buying an ROV is, of course, a one-off expense that is higher than hiring a team. But in the long run it can certainly save costs.
When you buy an underwater drone with sonar, the cost is around €60,000. This is a substantial investment, but one that will pay for itself within a few inspections!
A diving team always costs at least €2,500, and based on a simple calculation you will have earned back your ROV within 25 inspections!
Staff costs are always lower than hiring externally, so this can be a really good option to keep costs down in the long run. Also, a drone provides additional application possibilities, which can be a differentiator from competitors.
So if you need to inspect regularly, it may be smart to bring in expertise! This really does save money in the long run, something that is important for every company!
Renting an underwater drone
Should this one-off investment not fit into the budget, that’s no problem! In order to also help the smaller budgets, or companies that do not need to inspect as often, we also offer our services.
This means that you can rent our drone. However, an advanced drone, with sonar, can sometimes be difficult to operate.
That is why we offer our drone experts at every inspection! These are always inspectors with a background in hydraulic engineering, underwater inspection or diving! So they always know what to look for and how to proceed.
This also saves you a lot of time, because we take all the work off your hands. This does not mean that you have no control! You can take a look yourself, and highlight or adjust certain aspects. The reporting can be done entirely by our team, or the data can be transferred to you.
It might be useful to know that we ‘only’ charge €2150 per day, which is often cheaper than for example diving teams!
ROVs can work best in a data-oriented way!
An underwater drone has underwater control through many instruments that can be applied. Because you can always watch the underwater images from the shore, you have complete control! The images you take are also stored so that they can always be viewed later. Both the images of the camera and those of the sonar can be viewed!
This way, working by touch is no longer necessary! With a camera and sonar, you can always look underwater and work in a data-oriented way. This gives the best results for reports and maintenance planning.
The data can therefore always be looked back on, and it is possible to inspect exactly the same places every year via sensors. This way, you can see your position in the water live, and exactly overlap with a previous inspection. This gives the best results in terms of wear and possible damage.
The stored data can be used in many programmes. For example, the sonar images can be stored in a programme, viewed and deviations can be measured. This shows the exact extent of a problem, and a plan can be written to solve it. (In the picture you can see a sonar image from one of our inspections, with a straight line to get a good view of an anomaly!)
So you can always rely on reliable data and in the long run really save costs! You invest for the future, and the future can be brought into your home with underwater drones!
Do you have questions about the possibilities of an ROV in your area of expertise, or would you like to know more about the costs? Then get in contact with us! To see how we work with underwater drones, you can follow us on social media!
