Augmented Surveyor 3D (AGS 3D) Safer, faster, smarter ship and offshore inspections powered by LiDAR, AI, and 3D modeling

AI-powered asset integrity management

Augmented Surveyor 3D (AGS 3D) is Bureau Veritas’ advanced AI-powered asset integrity management system for ships and offshore units.

By combining onboard surveyor expertise, drone-enabled visuals and LiDAR capture, and AI-supported defect analysis and 3D modeling, it transforms inspection data into actionable intelligence – reducing downtime, improving safety and strengthening predictive maintenance.

As part of the Bureau Veritas Digital Classification ecosystem, AGS 3D also connects seamlessly with other digital solutions to enhance decision-making across the fleet.

Why traditional inspections hold assets back

The cost of downtime and inconsistent data

Inspections of ballast tanks, cargo holds, and other confined spaces are essential to maintaining structural integrity, yet traditional methods remain slow, costly, and risky. Preparing hazardous areas for entry can lead to days or weeks of dry-dock downtime.

Manual data collection—photos, notes, and unaligned reports—leaves operators with inconsistent inspection records and limited visibility across their fleet. This fragmented data is unreliable and can’t support optimized maintenance planning.

As vessels age and regulations tighten, these inefficiencies turn into significant operational and financial strain. The industry needs a smarter, safer, and more connected approach to asset integrity management.

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Enabling inspections to go further, faster

Inspections of ballast tanks, cargo holds, and other confined spaces on ships are essential to maintaining structural integrity, yet traditional methods remain slow, costly and risky.

Manual data collection, such as photos, notes and unaligned reports, can leave operators with inconsistent inspection records and limited visibility across their fleet. This fragmented data is unreliable and doesn’t support optimized maintenance planning.

Additionally, as vessels age and regulations increase, these inefficiencies become a significant operational and financial strain on shipowners and managers.

The industry needs a smarter, safer and more connected approach to asset integrity management.

How is Bureau Veritas making inspections smarter and safer?

AGS 3D is solving operational challenges with reliable intelligence.

Capture
The platform replaces manual inspection with an integrated drone-based, AI-driven system. Using specialized LiDAR drones to survey confined or hazardous areas, such as ballast tanks, surveyors can get a full visual without human entry.
Analyze
Using the drone surveys and AI defect analysis, the AGS 3D algorithm automatically detects corrosion and other structural anomalies, generating a precise 3D digital model and defect map.
Collaborate
Each dataset is validated by Bureau Veritas experts to meet class standards for accuracy and traceability. All results appear in the secure AGS Viewport Cloud platform, creating one shared photorealistic model that supports condition monitoring. This enables all stakeholders, including owners, to collaborate with the classification team in real time.

The result is actionable insight for predictive maintenance and smarter repair planning.

What are the key benefits of the Augmented Surveyor 3D?

AGS 3D delivers tangible results across inspection, safety and maintenance performance. It enables shipowners and managers to:

Reduce downtime: complete inspections in days instead of weeks, minimizing dry-dock costs and lost revenue
Eliminate confined-space risk: no need for human entry or re-oxygenation.
Standardize data: comparable, traceable results across fleets and inspection cycles
Predict maintenance: identify trends early and plan repairs before failures occur
Secure collaboration: all information is centralized within Bureau Veritas’ encrypted platform

Next-generation remote inspection techniques

With decades of classification experience and a record of maritime innovation, Bureau Veritas is supporting the shift from manual inspection to digital lifecycle management.

After a successful pilot of AGS in 2025, the tool has been fully and commercially deployed at scale, inspecting hundreds of tanks.

In 2025, Bureau Veritas completed a successful proof-of-concept pilot with TotalEnergies on an FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) in West Africa. The drone-based inspection survey generated a detailed 3D digital model with enhanced corrosion analytics, effectively demonstrating the precision and efficiency of AGS 3D in real operations.

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