Reach the Tank Internals Without Building Staging.
Ballast and cargo tank webs, frames and underdeck longitudinals sit metres above the tank bottom. Reaching them for a close-up survey and contact UTM normally means staging, rafting or rope access, plus confined-space risk and time. The CSpect ALTUM carbon pole carries the camera or the ultrasonic probe up to those members from the tank bottom, so one operator takes the readings with no staging to erect.
Inside a Tank, the Steel You Have to Inspect Is Up High.
The members that drive a tank's condition assessment, transverse and longitudinal webs, side and bottom frames, brackets, and the underdeck longitudinals at the top of the space, sit several metres above the tank bottom. A surveyor standing on the bottom cannot get close enough to examine coating breakdown or place an ultrasonic probe on them.
So the tank gets staged out, rafted or worked by a rope-access team, and that is the expensive, slow, hazardous part. Erecting and dismantling staging inside a tank takes crew-days; rafting needs the tank part-flooded; every option puts more people, for longer, inside a confined space that must be gas-free, permitted and stood by. The inspection itself is minutes; the access is the cost.
- Webs, frames and underdeck longitudinals sit metres above the tank bottom
- Staging and rafting take crew-days to build and remove before any survey starts
- More people, for longer, inside a gas-free confined space raises the risk exposure
- Rope access adds specialist mobilisation, permits and standby
Close-Up Survey and Thickness Measurement: of the Right Members
Whatever the access method, the survey scope is set by class. The ALTUM is a way to reach that scope, not a substitute for it.
Under the classification societies' enhanced survey programme for the periodical special/renewal survey of tanks, the expectation is broadly consistent: a close-up examination of structural members combined with thickness measurement, with extra attention paid to identified suspect areas and to the condition of ballast-tank coatings and the corrosion-prevention system. Close-up means getting near enough to examine and, where required, to place a probe, not viewing from the tank bottom.
That is exactly the reach problem the ALTUM addresses: it brings the visual camera and the ultrasonic thickness probe up to those members so the required close-up work can be carried out. The pole is the access; the survey scope, the acceptance criteria and the sign-off remain with the attending surveyor and your class society.
Requirements described qualitatively; confirm the exact scope, extent of close-up survey and thickness measurement, and acceptance criteria for each vessel and survey with the attending surveyor and your classification society.
- Close-up survey of webs, frames, brackets and underdeck longitudinals
- Thickness measurement on wastage-prone members and plating
- Added scrutiny of suspect areas identified from records or the survey
- Assessment of coating condition and the ballast-tank corrosion-prevention system
- The ALTUM delivers the visual + contact-UTM access; class sets and signs the scope
Camera or Probe, Carried Up From the Tank Bottom.
The ALTUM is a 100% high-modulus carbon telescopic pole: 18.2 m extended, 1.96 m packed, 4.1 kg, that carries an inspection module up to the steel while the operator stays at a safe standing point on the tank bottom. For a close-up look, the 64 MP gimbal-stabilised visual module (with its own LED lighting) captures coating breakdown, corrosion and the condition of welds and brackets on a tablet viewer. For a reading, the UTM module holds the ultrasonic probe to the member with the A-scan read live on the controller.
Where the surface is fouled or coated, the UTM with grinder (crawler) grinds the spot clean and takes the reading in the same pass; where you cannot prepare the surface at all, the couplant-free EMAT module reads through paint, coatings and light corrosion. Because the pole reaches ~18 m from the tank bottom, targeted thickness readings on high webs and underdeck longitudinals can often be taken without erecting internal staging. See the full module range on Thickness Measurement and the pole itself on The ALTUM Pole.
- 18.2 m carbon pole carries the camera or UTM probe up to the member
- Live A-scan on the controller as each reading is taken
- Grind-then-measure crawler for fouled or coated steel and stainless
- Couplant-free EMAT reads through paint and light corrosion, no prep needed
Pole and module specifications, and performance figures, as published by CSpect. ALTUM is a patented CSpect system; SepcoTech is an Authorised Distributor and represents the manufacturer.
A Tank-Inspection Workflow With the ALTUM
A typical sequence once the tank is safe to enter. Your own confined-space entry procedures, permits and class survey scope always take precedence.
Gas-free & entry preparation
The tank is ventilated, gas-freed and certified for entry under your permit-to-work system, with atmosphere monitoring and standby in place. Only when the space is confirmed safe does the operator enter with the packed 1.96 m pole and the module flight case, with no staging or rafting to install first.
Visual scan of coatings, anodes & structure
From the tank bottom, the operator extends the pole and runs the 64 MP visual module over the coatings, sacrificial anodes, welds, brackets and structural members, up to the underdeck longitudinals, recording coating breakdown, corrosion and any damage on the tablet viewer to guide where readings are needed.
Targeted UTM on wastage-prone members
The UTM module carries the ultrasonic probe to the members that matter: high webs, frames and longitudinals, and any suspect areas flagged from records or the visual scan, with the A-scan read live on the controller. Where the surface is fouled or coated, the grinder crawler cleans the spot first, or EMAT reads straight through the coating.
Logging & hand-off to the surveyor
Readings and visual evidence are logged against their locations so the thickness report and close-up findings can be verified and signed by the attending surveyor. The result is the same survey data, reached from the tank bottom, with fewer people at height and no staging cycle to build and strike.
One operator, working the pole from the tank bottom.
A pole-based survey is carried out by one technician from the tank bottom rather than a team working on staging or rafting, so there are fewer people at height inside the confined space, and no staging to erect and dismantle. That typically means less time inside the tank and less access equipment to mobilise. It does not replace gas-free certification, entry permits and standby, which still apply.
Spec the Right Set-Up for Your Tanks
The modules that do the reading, the pole that does the reaching, and the full picture of where the ALTUM works.
Thickness Measurement
UTM Ultra-Light, the grinder crawler, couplant-free EMAT and B-Scan: pick by surface condition and the data you need on the tank internals.
Explore thickness modules →The ALTUM Pole
The 18.2 m, 4.1 kg carbon telescopic pole that carries the camera or probe from the tank bottom to the steel.
Explore the pole →Applications & Projects
Ships, yards, offshore, tanks, silos, bridges and pipe racks, with real projects across ports, chemical plants and steelworks.
See all applications →Ballast & Cargo Tank Inspection: Common Questions
New to pole-based tank inspection? Our guide explains how the system works and how to choose modules.
Can it take UTM readings inside a ballast tank without staging?
What does a class close-up survey expect in tanks?
How does pole-based inspection reduce confined-space risk and time?
Can it read through rust and coating on tank internals?
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