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World's Biggest Ship Gets Small Parts Delivery - By Drone

27 May 2020

On May 22, the port of Rotterdam was able to celebrate a first for the Netherlands: an unmanned aerial drone delivery of parts to a merchant vessel. In the pilot experiment, a sandwich-sized computer network switch was delivered by drone to Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, the largest vessel by displacement in the world. Pioneering Spirit is currently moored at Alexiahaven, Rotterdam in preparation for her next project.

 

The pilot was set up by Dutch Drone Delta, Allseas and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, and it is intended to determine whether and how drone deliveries could increase transport efficiency in the port area. Rotterdam is positioning itself as "the safest port to fly," and it says that it is monitoring its airspace so that third parties can use UAV technology to make the port more efficient.

 

New European regulations have cleared the way for new UAV applications. The participants say that the Pioneering Spirit delivery is a significant step in the process towards unmanned aerial cargo transport, since it involved the delivery of an actual package via long-distance flight by the UAV. In this case, the delivery was directly monitored by human observers, but in the near future it will be handled entirely beyond the pilot’s physical line of sight, the port said.

“Utilizing new technologies allows us to make our port smarter, more streamlined, more efficient and safer. The current pilot project is a prime example: it makes a significant contribution to more efficient transport in general; and in due time, it will specifically help to reduce the pressure on our road network," said Port of Rotterdam adviser Ingrid Römers. "The results of this pilot project can also serve as input for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management when it drafts the required legislation and regulations."

 

Stephan van Vuren, a member of the Dutch Drone Delta initiative, said that drone services in the port area could help with multiple tasks, including incident prevention and control, firefighting, routine monitoring, infrastructure inspections, and deliveries to ships and oil rigs. "And in the longer term, we may even be seeing heavy freight deliveries and passenger transport," says van Vuren.

 

For the offshore sector, drone operations could supplement traditional means like helicopter deliveries. “Drone delivery can be of added value when we are in urgent need of parts which we can’t repair ourselves – for example network switches or computer chips," said Allseas spokesperson Jeroen Hagelstein.

Comments (0)


Today
8:03am
Hi Jenna! I made a new design, and i wanted to show it to you.
8:03am
It's quite clean and it's inspired from Bulkit.
8:12am
Oh really??! I want to see that.
8:13am
FYI it was done in less than a day.
8:17am
Great to hear it. Just send me the PSD files so i can have a look at it.
8:18am
And if you have a prototype, you can also send me the link to it.

Monday
4:55pm
Hey Jenna, what's up?
4:56pm
Iam coming to LA tomorrow. Interested in having lunch?
5:21pm
Hey mate, it's been a while. Sure I would love to.
5:27pm
Ok. Let's say i pick you up at 12:30 at work, works?
5:43pm
Yup, that works great.
5:44pm
And yeah, don't forget to bring some of my favourite cheese cake.
5:27pm
No worries

Today
2:01pm
Hello Jenna, did you read my proposal?
2:01pm
Didn't hear from you since i sent it.
2:02pm
Hello Milly, Iam really sorry, Iam so busy recently, but i had the time to read it.
2:04pm
And what did you think about it?
2:05pm
Actually it's quite good, there might be some small changes but overall it's great.
2:07pm
I think that i can give it to my boss at this stage.
2:09pm
Crossing fingers then

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