The rise of occasional remote surveys

Covid-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions caused many onsite surveys to be postponed in 2020. While remote surveys cannot fully replace onsite surveys, they can be used for some occasional surveys and administrative jobs, with authorization from the relevant Flag State if statutory items are included.

The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) recently set up a working group to define the appropriate scope, conditions and limitations for remote surveys. The group will also consider developing a unified requirement or recommendation for remote surveys.

Support from Remote Survey Centers

This August marked the opening of Bureau Veritas’ final Remote Survey Center (RSC) in Miami. Following the opening of seven others – in Rotterdam, Piraeus, Shanghai, Singapore, Paris and jointly managed centers in Dubai and Istanbul – this represented the culmination of six months of effort.

Our RSCs can now offer 24/7 coverage to clients whose survey needs fall within the scope of a remote survey.

Since February, Bureau Veritas has conducted over a thousand remote surveys for clients across the globe, with particularly active areas in Greece, the Netherlands, the Americas and the Middle East.

The feedback from our clients has been resounding: conducting remote surveys enables them to be more flexible and achieve business continuity. Thanks to the effective process of organizing and conducting the survey – and around the clock support from our RSCs – clients can benefit from our services anytime, anywhere.

Bringing efficiency to the forefront

Moving forward, increasing efficiency for remote surveys will be a top priority. In November, Bureau Veritas launched a new feature for Veristar Info to enable clients to request remote surveys via the platform.

Once a request is submitted, our RSCs determine if the case meets the relevant scope for remote surveys. If so, the client is redirected to the appropriate remote surveyor to begin the remote survey – all digitally.

Our ultimate goal is to digitalize the process from end-to-end: request reception, RSC assignment, survey conduction, report generation, client sign-off, invoicing, etc. Using client feedback and our digital expertise, we are aiming to optimize remote surveys for the short- and long-term to meet evolving industry needs.