While Singapore and its surround is touted as a future global leader of eVTOL operations, drone delivery is very much on the ascendancy too in the region.
F-Drones is, perhaps, the best known within the delivery sector, where it began trials back in 2020, successfully transporting goods to large ships and vessels docked in local waters.
Operating drones across large stretches of water is a lot safer than over congested public areas and why regulatory bodies are more open to offering Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) commercial certification.
The latest news is that Singapore-based tanker owner and operator Hafnia has entered into an agreement with F-Drones to use its craft for the delivery of goods to the company’s vessels after trials using more a improved drone called the Hypercopter that can carry payloads of up to 10kg and fly over 30km.
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A Hafnia spokesperson said, “F-drones will enable us to rely less on the use of boats to deliver smaller loads to vessels, and thereby reduce CO2 emissions with every trip.”
Nicolas Ang, CEO of F-Drones, added, “The traditional means of transport are expensive, slow, labour and carbon intensive. Our solutions can help save up to 80 percent of the costs, time and CO2 emissions.”
The deal builds on the joint tests carried out in Singapore two years ago, when Hafnia used F-drones to deliver goods to its vessels anchored close by. The company co-operated with both Eastern Pacific Shipping and F-drones to enable the first deliveries to and from a laden tanker.
The craft delivered important main engine spare parts to crude oil tanker, Levantine Sea, while returning two bottles of bunker samples ashore. The bunker samples were then sent to Viswa Lab for analysis.
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