How Hullproof works

We turn hull inspection video into a structured, audit-ready report. Comprehensive coverage across 54 inspection points organised into 11 categories — aligned with class society in-water survey practice.

The pipeline

  1. Ingest. You upload video (MP4/MOV/AVI) or share a link (WeTransfer, Google Drive, Dropbox). Stills and ZIPs work too.
  2. Frame analysis. Our AI inspects the footage frame-by-frame across every condition domain in the categories below, recording timestamps for each finding.
  3. Scoring & aggregation. Findings are aggregated into per-category ratings and a vessel-level risk score. Problem areas are summarised with location and severity.
  4. Report generation. The output is rendered as a PDF suitable for internal use, class, flag, and insurers — with a full audit trail linking each finding back to the source footage timestamp.

Coverage map

Every analysis covers the same inspection points, every time — consistency makes vessels comparable across inspections and across fleets. Items marked [if fitted] are vessel-type-specific and only reported when present.

Hull Surface

Coating, biofouling, and chemical condition of hull plating.

  • Biofouling — soft growth. Algae, slime, and other soft biological growth on hull surfaces.
  • Biofouling — hard growth. Barnacles, tubeworms, mussels — calcareous hard fouling.
  • Coating loss. Areas where the protective coating system has failed or is missing.
  • Coating disbondment / underfilm corrosion. Coating lifting from substrate, often with corrosion progressing underneath.
  • General corrosion. Surface corrosion across hull plating.
  • Pitting corrosion. Localized pitting attack — depth and density.
  • Calcareous deposit (CP over-protection). White calcareous deposits indicating cathodic over-protection.
  • Recent paint touch-up. Visibly fresh paint patches indicating recent repair at this site.

Structural Integrity

Cracks, deformation, fatigue, and fastener integrity.

  • Impact damage. Dents, gouges, and structural deformation consistent with impact events.
  • Structural fatigue cracks. Stress cracks and indicators of long-term cyclic loading damage.
  • Hull plate deformation / setdown. Visible plate deformation distinct from localized impact.
  • Loose / missing fasteners. Missing bolts, rivets, or visibly loose hardware on hull or appendages.
  • Bilge keel attachment. Bilge keel bracket and attachment integrity — common fatigue failure point.
  • Doubler plate / cement box. Doubler plates, cement boxes, or pad welds indicating prior structural repair.

Welded Joints

Welded seams and butts — discontinuities, undercuts, root defects.

  • Weld crown defect. Cracks, undercuts, or porosity on the crown side of welded seams.
  • Weld root defect. Defects on root side of welded seams — usually inferred from visible stress patterns.
  • Burning / repair scar. Visible burn marks or repair scars from in-place welding.

Propulsion

Propeller, shaft, thrusters, and stern tube seal.

  • Propeller blade condition. Blade edge erosion, cavitation pitting, deformation, biological growth.
  • Propeller hub. Hub condition, fairing, and biological growth.
  • Propeller boss cap / rope cutter. Boss cap or rope cutter integrity.
  • Shaft & shaft bracket. Visible shaft condition, bracket integrity, and shaft fairing.
  • Stern tube seal. Stern tube seal condition; oil leakage indicators (MARPOL Annex I risk).
  • Bow thruster. Bow thruster tunnel, grating, and visible blade condition.
  • Stern thruster. Stern thruster tunnel and blade condition.
  • Azipod / azimuth thruster [if fitted]. Azimuth thruster pod condition (where fitted).
  • Waterjet inlet/outlet [if fitted]. Waterjet propulsion inlet and outlet condition (fast vessels).

Steering

Rudder, bearings, and steering nozzles.

  • Rudder blade. Rudder blade surface, leading/trailing edge condition.
  • Rudder pintle / gudgeon / bearing. Pintle, gudgeon, and bearing play indicators.
  • Steering nozzle (Kort) [if fitted]. Kort nozzle integrity — tugs, fishing vessels.

Sea Connections

Sea chests, overboard discharges, strainers, through-hull fittings.

  • Sea-chest gratings. Sea-chest gratings and intake fouling.
  • Overboard discharge fittings. Overboard discharge openings and fittings condition.
  • Sea suction strainer. Sea suction strainer fouling and integrity (distinct from sea-chest gratings).
  • Through-hull penetration. Through-hull penetrations and surrounding plate.

Cathodic Protection

Sacrificial anodes, ICCP system, galvanic indicators.

  • Sacrificial anodes. Sacrificial anode (zinc/aluminum) condition and remaining life.
  • ICCP system. Impressed-current cathodic protection — anodes, reference cells, wiring.
  • Galvanic corrosion at dissimilar metals. Accelerated corrosion at junctions of dissimilar metals.

Appendages & Sensors

Bilge keels, stabilizer fins, sonar dome, transducer wells.

  • Stabilizer fin [if fitted]. Active stabilizer fin condition (where fitted).
  • Sonar dome [if fitted]. Sonar dome housing condition (research/naval vessels).
  • Echo sounder / log / transducer wells. Hull-mounted sensor housings and transducer wells.
  • Acoustic window [if fitted]. Acoustic window for sonar or research equipment.

Compliance Markings

Draft marks, load line, IMO number, vessel identification.

  • Draft marks. Visibility and legibility of draft marks per ILLC 1966.
  • Load line (Plimsoll) marks. Load line marks including seasonal indicators.
  • IMO number. IMO number visibility and legibility.
  • Vessel name & port of registry. Visibility of vessel name and port of registry markings.

Damage Mechanisms

Specialized corrosion modes and repair-history indicators.

  • Erosion-corrosion (high-flow areas). Combined erosion and corrosion at high-flow zones (props, sea chest inlets).
  • Stress corrosion cracking. Cracking under combined tensile stress and corrosive environment.
  • Microbiologically influenced corrosion. MIC — accelerated corrosion under biofilms / anaerobic deposits.
  • Cavitation erosion (non-prop). Cavitation damage at locations other than propeller (rudder, hull recesses).

Vessel-Type Features

Conditional on vessel type — moonpool, helideck, ice belt, etc.

  • Moonpool [if fitted]. Moonpool internal surfaces (DP / offshore / research vessels).
  • Heli-deck underside [if fitted]. Underside of helicopter deck (offshore vessels).
  • Ice belt / ice knife [if fitted]. Ice-strengthened hull belt and ice knife (Arctic/Baltic vessels).
  • Air lubrication outlets [if fitted]. Air lubrication system outlet array (modern eco-vessels).
  • Bow / stern door underside [if fitted]. Underside of bow visor or stern ramp (RoRo / ferry).
  • Other findings. Findings that do not fit established categories — flagged for human review.

17 domains are scored numerically on the cover-page summary. 26 additional domains are flagged in the detailed findings when detected. 11 vessel-type-specific items are reported only when the vessel has those features.

What Hullproof is not

Honest scope is part of the methodology. Hullproof is designed to make inspection footage usable — not to replace decisions made by qualified maritime professionals.

  • Not a class survey. Class society inspections remain the authority for class-mandated work. Our output is intended to support and prepare for those processes, not substitute for them.
  • Not a structural-integrity verdict. Findings indicate visible condition. Decisions about repair, drydock timing, and structural intervention belong to your superintendent, surveyor, or engineer.
  • Not as good as bad footage. Quality of input determines quality of output. Murky water, occluded angles, or low-resolution video will degrade what the system can detect — flagged in the report rather than papered over.

Data handling

  • We do not use your footage, images, or documents to train our AI.
  • We do not sell or share your data for advertising.
  • We process your data only for your analysis and your report.

For the full statement, see our Privacy page.

Want to see what an audit-ready Hullproof report actually looks like, or submit a vessel and try it on your own footage?

Submit footage →See pricing