From Ropes to Drones: Innovating Offshore Inspections
Once a manual operation, drones are providing a safer, more time efficient option to inspect offshore platforms, helping keep the lights on at home.
When Tori Gibson starts her commute to work, she texts her mom. She texts her mom again when she arrives at her place of work. As she jumps off the helicopter that serves as her ride, she is continually in awe of the vastness of being dropped off in the middle of the ocean. She even sometimes travels by boat from oil platform to oil platform, a daily commute unlike many others.
Tori was a communication specialist in the Army National Guard, became a head cake decorator, and then ventured into oil and gas. Some might call her a jack of all trades, and she is a self-professed adrenaline seeker. Tori was trained to conduct rope access inspections on offshore platforms, and loved the mental challenge that rope access created, especially over open waters. As her role has progressed, so have the technological advancements of the work Tori does.
Tori GibsonAs much as I love being 250ft above water, it’s been such a great challenge to learn new technology, learn a new skillset, and ultimately become a better drone pilot.
During Tori’s nine years in the oil and gas industry, she spent four of those conducting manual rope access inspections, more recently transitioning to conducting offshore platform inspections with drones.
Making the out of reach, reachable
Offshore platforms are subjected to the elements of mother nature, be that from sunlight, waves, or inclement weather. As an inspector, Tori is trained to identify and mitigate corrosion risks to keep offshore platforms running smoothly.
Inspections, once done manually, are to help keep these platforms continuing to produce safe and reliable energy today and into the future. Due to the size of some of these offshore platforms, there are areas that may be difficult or dangerous to reach with manual rope access. Drones have helped alleviate these issues.
Most recently, Tori has been working on Olympus, a Shell-operated offshore platform positioned 130 miles south of New Orleans. Shell Robotics and Shell Air Transport Assurance work closely with CAN, an inspection services business, to develop new technologies to spot potential maintenance issues. As more ways to use drones for inspections become more sophisticated, new technologies like underwater drones or confined spaces drones that can take ultrasonic readings are creating unlimited opportunities for drone pilots.
Tori’s background in rope access and transition to drone pilot allows her to streamline inspections because she’s familiar with the area and knows exactly what to look for.
Tori GibsonWith the conditions these platforms sit in, with the water, the salt, and the high winds, you're going to have some corrosion. But knowing when that's a problem comes with experience.
Not only are drones safer, but they are also time efficient. Previous rope access inspections could have taken an entire day, and now inspections can be accomplished in minutes. In some instances, because they allow easier remote access, drone inspections alleviate the need to stop production on the platform.
Life on a floating city
The thrill of commuting via helicopter can sometimes be offset by the challenges of being offshore for weeks at a time. Tori misses her family but takes pride in knowing what she is doing is necessary work. Keeping these platforms running safely and efficiently helps provide secure energy for America. These offshore platforms, or floating cities as they are called, sometimes house hundreds of people, working diligently to keep the lights on back home.
Tori has been on every Shell-operated platform in the Gulf of America; she knows the ingenuity behind these platforms is no small feat and requires equal ingenuity to continuously improve how they are run and maintained. The natural evolution of technology on the platforms inspires innovation in operations too, including finding increasingly smart ways to use drone technology to improve inspections.
Tori GibsonI'm excited to use all my expertise and my experience and put it towards this new technology. It's good for inspection, it's good for Shell, and it's good for the future.
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