How ABS tested, assessed, and accepted the Elios 3 UT as a data collection tool for class inspections.
Since Flyability launched the Elios 3 UT in March 2024, one of its clear-cut maritime applications is its potential as a class inspection tool. Class societies, such as the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), provide the rules that marine vessel manufacturers, owners, and operators follow to help ensure safe and smooth global maritime operations.
To prove the benefits of Elios 3 UT during maritime inspections, Flyability worked with ABS to validate the solution’s use as a data collection tool during ship inspections. This means that ABS surveyors would be able to use data gathered by the Elios 3 and its UT payload — including ultrasonic thickness measurements in ship hulls, ballast tanks, and cargo tanks — as part of official surveys to determine the ship’s adherence to international guidelines and ABS Rules. The advantages of using the Elios 3 for maritime inspections include reduced exposure to confined spaces, accurate data, and remote data collection.
The Ellios 3 drone with the UT probe mounted, ready to take thickness measurements in confined spaces
In this interview, we share how the Elios 3 UT was assessed and ultimately accepted by ABS as we talk to ABS Senior Engineer, Georgios Koutsoumpas, and EMEA Region Vice President for Technology, Dr. Chris Leontopoulos. We explore their evaluations of the Elios 3 UT, as well as their outlook for the future of drone inspections in maritime vessels.
ABS ran multiple tests on the Elios 3 UT drone on different ship types. The results showed that the Elios 3 UT drone met the ABS requirements for Remote Inspection Techniques.
Three separate testing missions took place after Evangelos Tzitzis (formerly of Drobotiqs and Diaplous) introduced Flyability to ABS. An initial demonstration of the Elios 3 and its UT payload was carried out in Greece at Onex Shipyards in Syros. In November 2023, Flyability presented Elios 3 to the ABS Hellenic Technical Committee, and a joint development project was initiated. An agreement was signed to collaborate on testing the marine version of Elios 3 with its UT payload.
The first test mission took place in March 2024, soon after the official launch of the Elios 3 model with UT capability. The purpose of this mission was to allow a team of ABS surveyors and Technology Engineers to assess the performance of the probe onboard the drone.
The mission took place on a product tanker in Turkey. Product tankers are characterized by double hull structures with transverse webs and longitudinal stiffeners off the centerline longitudinal bulkhead. This structure presents surveyors with several inherent challenges and dangers, including poor lighting due to small openings and the need to inspect areas that are not easily accessible through the vessel’s platforms. The area between longitudinal stiffeners on the main deck is an example of such challenging spaces, which typically require assistive means of access.
The Elios 3 can fly into hatches and easily access confined spaces, providing safe, remote access
The ABS team worked with the Elios 3 and its UT probe, including taking measurements in different locations and positions as part of the vessel’s special survey and pertinent requirements. The drone was also used to test structural elements that can be difficult to access without custom scaffolding. The ABS team recorded the structural steel thickness measurement values captured by the UT gauge, the coordinates of the positions that were reached, and the time it took to complete the inspection. All the measurements were compared to traditional hand-made measurements as part of the vessel’s special survey. The results of these observations were compiled and evaluated in a report in order to repeat similar assessments in the future and assess the overall time and efficiency benefits of the technology.
The second ABS mission was on a chemical carrier in Romania. Chemical carriers are also double-hull structures with box-shaped cargo tanks and corrugated transverse bulkheads. In this case, the stiffeners were located in the ballast tanks. Flyability set out with the Elios 3 UT to fulfill the requests from the ABS team as well as capture photos and videos of the drone in action. The drone’s capability of accessing the tight areas between the corrugations with poor lighting was satisfactorily tested.
The testing team observes the Elios 3's performance during the Romanian mission
The ABS team looked at the access Elios 3 had in confined spaces and throughout the ship. Here, they focused on ballast tank and hull inspections. Scaffolding for inspecting a ship hull can be significant depending on the extent of the inspection, so the option for a more cost-effective and safer inspection method without the need for work-at-height or confined space entry has great safety and efficiency potential for the industry. The drone’s ability to gather multiple ultrasonic thickness measurements was put to the test, with hundreds of measurements carried out inside the tanks. The Elios 3 UT performed all of the measurements in line with the ABS standards for remote inspection techniques, demonstrating viability for this application.
During the assessment, Dr. Leontopoulos said, “The drone can quickly, safely, and efficiently access spaces that humans can’t reach and therefore, the need for scaffolding, rope access, and rafting is eliminated.”
The final mission that Flyability and ABS worked on together was a bulk carrier class inspection in March 2025 in Greece. Bulk carriers can be single-hull vessels with corrugated transverse bulkheads and transverse stiffeners (frames) in the cargo hold sides.
During this mission, the bulk cargo tanks were inspected even while partially loaded with cargo. This allowed ABS surveyors to quickly get critical information without having to wait for the unloading operations, reducing downtime. With traditional inspections, this often requires rope access and lengthy safety assessments to lower surveyors into the bulk carrier tanks to gather information.
The ease of access and speed of inspection on this mission highlighted the versatility of the Elios 3 UT and provided quick results to the ABS team. While such tank inspections can typically take several days to complete using traditional methods, the inspection with the Elios 3 UT was completed within a single afternoon.
Flyability and ABS presented the project outcomes and the Elios 3 UT at Posidonia 2024 — one of the biggest maritime events on the calendar — as well as at SMM Hamburg several months later. In 2024, ABS updated its Rules for Surveyors so that UT measurements using drones became a standard alternative inspection measurement technique.
“Following intensive assessments by ABS, Flyability’s Elios 3 UT proved to operate satisfactorily in all the tests we subjected it to, including flying inside tanks, hulls and confined spaces on ships. The drone’s performance exceeds the suggested equipment requirements included in the ABS Guidance Notes on The Use of Remote Inspection Techniques. These equipment requirements include notes on the drone’s design, such as the propeller mounting method, operational capabilities (e.g. the ability to maintain a stable and accurate position), and data processing. Furthermore, the Guidance Notes detail the procedure to prepare and execute an inspection using such methods.
We see the benefits this technology offers in overcoming the accessibility issues of hard-to-reach areas in vessels that require assistive means of access (traditionally, scaffolding, rope access, or cherry pickers). The drone permits the completion of survey requirements while helping to reduce the risks of working at heights or in confined spaces. By improving safety and ease of access, the Elios 3 UT offers great potential for vessel inspection. It fulfills all requirements to be used on surveys of ABS-classed vessels, and ABS will accept data gathered by authorized third-party service suppliers using this drone for class inspections.”
“The design and features of the Elios 3 UT drone support navigation and inspection of confined spaces. Its protective caging allows it to navigate tight and complex environments allowing drone operators to fly the drone inside confined spaces, which are generally difficult to reach, such as ballast tanks. As a result, data collection in these challenging spaces is expedited.
The Elios 3's cage and flexible UT mount make it ideal for accessing challenging, confined spaces
The integrated flight control modules enhance [the drone’s] operability and stability within these challenging spaces. The LiDAR 3D-generated maps facilitate precise navigation and situational awareness. This means that after an inspection, one can localize the defects in the 3D point cloud and include detailed locational information in the final report. This information can be used to note defects that must be reviewed in the future, or to precisely plan maintenance work. The use of 3D modeling combined with non-destructive testing (NDT) in this way brings cutting-edge technology to class inspection processes. While battery life was noted as a potential limitation, the missions demonstrated that it did not hinder inspections while executing a well-planned procedure.
The use of the drone mitigates risks associated with traditional methods, reducing the need to work at height or in confined spaces. Moreover, the time and costs of an inspection may be substantially reduced.”
“This recognition means that the Elios 3 UT is suitable for use by ABS-approved service suppliers inspecting marine and offshore assets. ABS first published Guidance Notes on Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in 2016 and has since integrated the guidance with ABS Guidance Notes on The Use of Remote Inspection Techniques, which was first published in 2022. As the technology has advanced significantly since then, this project aimed to test the UT capabilities of the drone in different vessel types and challenging scenarios. The project’s findings will contribute to a revision of the guidance, aiming to establish the use of drones as a suitable remote inspection technique.
We see strong potential for this type of technology and application to become increasingly common. The demonstrated benefits in terms of safety, accessibility and potential cost and time savings align with the industry's ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and security. This partnership between Flyability and ABS can initiate additional projects to further advance the inspection methods and tools or leverage the drone’s capabilities in digitalization and automation of inspection processes.”
As described by Georgios and Chris in this interview, remote inspection tools like the Elios 3 UT are expected to soon become commonplace in this critical industry. The Elios 3 UT supports safer, faster, and more cost-effective inspections while digitizing its inspection environments. It paves the way for a new method of managing maritime assets, from ships to offshore platforms, and brings innovation to this critical industry.
If you’d like to learn more about the Elios 3 UT drone and our story with ABS, check out our maritime drones page!