Application of ‎Virtual Reality for Remote Ship Inspections and Surveys – A Systematic Review

: The use of virtual reality for the establishment of compliance is a potential game ‐ changer in enabling real ‐ time remote inspections/ surveys of vessels. When provided with high ‐ speed internet access, robots or remote ‐ controlled inspection vehicles such as drones, crawlers, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and so on, may be equipped with remote inspection technologies (RITs), and smart optical cameras and sensor suites in conjunction with wearable technologies, and smart/ mobile devices, to carry out an aerial and underwater virtual assessment of the coating condition of the steel structural members of the vessel while transmitting the data in real ‐ time or near real ‐ time, via collaborative software. To ease the travel restrictions and border closures prompted by the Coronavirus (COVID ‐ 19), these novel technologies have been introduced by some flag states and classification as alternatives to traditional in ‐ person statutory inspections/ class surveys. This study