SCOUT 137 | pre-entry inspection of confined spaces
Work in confined spaces such as storage tanks, compartments and pipe racks has long been one of the highest-risk areas of industrial safety management.
1. A warning from accidents: risk identification must come before entry
On 8 July 2025, a poisoning and asphyxiation accident occurred at a concrete company in Wuhu, Anhui, during maintenance and modification work on a water-reducing agent storage tank on production line 2, causing four deaths and one injury. The accident exposed problems in confined space work: entering the tank without emptying, ventilating, testing or using personal protective equipment, followed by uncontrolled rescue attempts that increased the casualties.
Accidents of this kind are a reminder that safety management for confined space work cannot rely only on judgements made on site after personnel have entered. Understanding the internal environment, structural condition and potential risk points before anyone enters a tank, compartment or item of equipment is becoming an important direction for improving inspection safety.
2. Pre-entry inspection: see the environment first, then plan the work
Industrial drones do not replace ventilation, gas testing, permits, site supervision or other safety procedures. They can, however, serve as a visual inspection tool before entry, helping site teams to "see the environment" first and then plan subsequent inspection or maintenance work, reducing the risk of personnel entering complex spaces without information.
The Scout 137 system from the Norwegian industrial drone company ScoutDI is a professional drone system designed for the inspection of confined spaces and complex industrial assets. It can be used in large storage tanks, ship compartments, FPSO cargo tanks, boilers, pipe racks and other confined or complex spaces, capturing site data through high-definition imagery, video and 3D LiDAR so that internal structures, surface condition and risk locations can be assessed more directly.
3. Inspection data: from site imagery to traceable records
With platforms such as Scout Portal, inspection data can also be used for later review, analysis, sharing and archiving, so that a site inspection results in managed, traceable data rather than scattered photographs and video clips.
Sources: publicly available accident investigation reports and related coverage.
The value of the low-altitude economy lies not only in flying, but in entering real working environments and addressing safety, efficiency and data management. Tecway Maritime continues to follow the application of ScoutDI industrial drones in the inspection of ships, offshore structures, storage tanks and industrial facilities, providing customers with safer, more efficient and more digital drone inspection solutions.