The ATEX approved tank inspection robot is specially developed for live deployment, eliminating the need to take the tank offline, saving man-hours and tank downtime.

Additionally, using an unmanned solution for tank inspection means that there are less health and safety concerns regarding the procedure and a reduction in the emission of hydrocarbon vapours and waste water.

Tan Soo Koong, Managing Director, Vopak Terminals, said: “As we drive the digital and innovative transformation of the tank storage industry, our partnership with Intero allows us to leverage on technology such as inspection robotics and big data analytics to create a safer, sustainable and more productive workplace.”

This collaborative work was awarded the SPRINT Robotics Award at the 1st World Conference for Inspection & Maintenance Robotics, which took place in Galveston, Texas. The award recognises the important work by Intero to help establish robotic on-stream inspection of storage tanks.

Tjibbe Bouma, Chairman of The SPRINT Robotics Collaborative, said: “The work performed for this successful project is a shining example of how close collaboration can accelerate breakthroughs in industry practices. The SPRINT Robotics Award recognises the important work by Intero and their project partners to help establish robotic on-stream inspection of storage tanks as a preferred standard solution to be considered for the majority of storage tanks around the world.”

Responding to the award announcement, Intero CEO Rienk de Vries said: “We are grateful for this opportunity to collaborate closely with Vopak for the world’s first inservice robot inspection in a low flashpoint product storage tank and honoured for our work to be acknowledged by The Sprint Robotics Collaborative.

“This project is a great demonstration of how close collaboration can accelerate breakthroughs in industry practices. We are hoping that the successful completion of this project with Vopak and the subsequent award win for the robot will stimulate the use of this ground breaking inspection approach within the industry”.

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