Deep Vision-Based Approaches for Subsurface Ship Hull Damage Identification and Evaluation

Naval ships function in harsh underwater environments where hull structures get corrosion, cracking, and material breakdown due to constant exposure. The damages generally occur below the waterline and that makes the early detection difficult with existing inspection methods. Traditional inspections followed by divers cost lot of time and life risk. Many serious defects go unnoticed as the ship hull environment are limited by visibility, depth, and human judgment. In this regard, this paper discusses about current challenges that occur during ship inspection and structural health monitoring and mentioned the hull-related defects caused by harsh marine environments. Some of recent advancements are reviewed that are implemented using underwater inspection technologies, including image-based defect detection, autonomous ROV/AUV systems, and sensorbased IoT monitoring solutions. The study also highlights the importance of integrated and data-driven approaches that provide safer, efficient, and automated ship inspection practices.