Recently, the technology team of Shenzhen AKA Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “AKA Robotics”) traveled to The Gulf of Guinea in West Africa to complete the on-site delivery and practical training of an automated robotic system for offshore drilling vessels maintenance.

The project involved the implementation of a comprehensive solution consisting of the WallHiker W-06 intelligent, full-surface, self-adaptive surface preparation robot, and the WallHiker TSW-02 painting robot, enabling on-site refurbishment of the drilling vessel without requiring drydocking, integrating maintenance into the vessel’s operational schedule, and ultimately reducing costs and increasing efficiency for international high-end marine equipment.

Taking an offshore drillship out of service for dry-dock maintenance entails extremely high costs. The daily charter rate for a single drillship can reach $500,000; a seven-day suspension of operations results in a direct revenue loss of approximately $3.5 million.

The standout feature of the Xingzhixing robot on-site maintenance solution is that it eliminates the need for vessels to leave their drilling locations and head to a shipyard dry dock for repairs. The robot enables maintenance tasks—such as rust removal and coating refurbishment on the freeboard and outer hull—to be performed while the drillship remains operational; by integrating maintenance into existing operational windows, it avoids the massive revenue losses associated with taking the vessel out of service.

Conditions for on-site drillship hull repairs at sea are far more demanding than those in a shipyard dry dock; the project faces two core challenges:

• Environmental Challenge: While shipyard operations can rely on gravity for wastewater recovery, offshore operations present unique challenges; the direct discharge of wastewater and waste containing paint residues into the ocean poses significant environmental compliance risks. Centered on the WallHiker W-06—an adaptive wall-climbing robot capable of navigating complex curved surfaces—AKA Robotics has developed a solution combining ultra-high-pressure water jetting with a closed-loop wastewater recovery system. This process eliminates the need for additional abrasives and ensures the centralized collection and disposal of wastewater and paint sludge, thereby preventing pollutants from entering the ocean and meeting international marine environmental standards. Operations adhere to the WallHiker series and ISO 8501-4 standards, effectively removing salts while preserving the original surface profile to ensure optimal adhesion for subsequent coating applications.
• Complex hull surface: This system includes a WallHiker TSW-02 swing arm robotic coating system, which allows for dynamic parameter adjustment to precisely control coating thickness and application area, enabling fine-point spraying and improving coating quality while reducing material waste. Furthermore, this robot possesses excellent surface adaptation and obstacle-crossing capabilities, allowing it to reliably navigate welds and wall indentations up to 25mm, ensuring continuous and stable operation in complex marine exterior wall environments, replacing traditional, high-risk, and inefficient manual high-altitude spraying.

This project in the Gulf of Guinea is spearheaded by a premier offshore drilling company, offering comprehensive services for its extensive fleet of Drillships, FPSOs and other high-end offshore platform. The project adheres to the highest industry standards, technical requirements, and environmental regulations.

The successful implementation of the “On-site Intelligent Maintenance” solution marks the official entry of AKA Robotics comprehensive maintenance system into the global high-end offshore industry supply chain. Leveraging its proprietary core technologies, AKA Robotics will continue to overcome challenging offshore conditions and provide a complete on-site automated robotic surface preparation, rust and paint removal, intelligent painting, and closed-loop green maintenance solution to the offshore industry. This will help reduce downtime and achieve safe, low-carbon, and cost-effective operations.