Advanced Non-Destructive Inspection and Integrity Assurance of Offshore and Marine Pipelines for Critical Energy and Water Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia

Offshore pipelines connect hydrocarbon production, coastal industrial operations and seawater-dependent water systems, yet their integrity cannot be inferred from occasional inspection results alone. Saudi Arabia presents a demanding case because high-consequence energy assets coexist with seawater intakes, desalination facilities and transmission networks serving arid regions. This critical review evaluates non-destructive inspection technologies reported between 2020 and 2025 and develops an assurance framework that links defect detection,sizing uncertainty,deterioration mechanisms and maintenance decisions. Evidence from ultrasonic testing, guided waves, magnetic flux leakage, acoustic monitoring, distributed fibre sensing, robotic inspection and digital modelling is compared against practical access and validation constraints. The review distinguishes metal loss from cracks, active leakage from latent deterioration, and continuous surveillance from periodic verification. It argues that reliable assurance requires an evidence chain extending from sensor qualification to fitness-for-service assessment, rather than substituting algorithmic predictions for measurements. Two synthesis tables map inspection capabilities to threats and identify the most consequential implementation gaps. A staged Saudi deployment pathway is proposed, prioritizing repeatable baselines, representative defect trials, traceable data, cross-disciplinary review and explicit intervention thresholds.