Case Study: Skyports Drone Services Brings Ship-to-Ship Drone Delivery to the Port of Singapore 

The A2Z Drone Delivery RDS2 Commercial Drone Winch Enables Operators to Deliver Payloads to Vessels Without Having to Land on Cluttered Decks.

 

Customer: Skyports Drone Services

Background

Skyports Drone Services (Skyports), the global leader in drone logistics, surveys, and monitoring, has become a trusted service partner for many customers pushing the boundaries of unmanned aerial advancements. In Singapore, Skyports conducts daily beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone deliveries to its maritime customers to provide a faster, more efficient, zero-emission connection between ship and shore operations. The company has recently expanded its operations to serve more ships. The company leverages the A2Z Drone Delivery RDS2 commercial drone winch to support deliveries to and from ships at anchor. The service is streamlining on-demand cargo deliveries for packages up to 5 kg, executing express transport of analysis samples of bunker, water, and lubricant oil taken from vessels, and speeding Cash-to-Master (CTM) hard currency deliveries to awaiting ships.

Customer Needs

The Port of Singapore is one of the busiest anchorages in the world, handling more than 40,000 vessel calls per year. Operating at peak efficiency is imperative for the maritime logistics professionals that keep vessels cycling through Singapore. While in port awaiting offload, each ship relies on boat-borne deliveries to transport collected samples of bunker, water, and lubricant oil that are analyzed at shore-based facilities. Crews also send and receive smaller packages between the ship and shore and vice versa, and take on hard currency for crew payroll distribution and other onboard economies.

With more than a thousand vessels awaiting offload in the harbor’s anchorage, standard deliveries by boat can take up to four hours and put crew members at risk as they transition from the delivery boats to the cargo ships. Not only could delivery drones speed these deliveries and minimize the duration of port calls, but they could reduce vessel congestion in the port while minimizing the fuel consumption and associated carbon emissions from traditional delivery boats.

Servicing the diverse array of cargo ships that frequent the Port of Singapore also comes with unique challenges. While some ships are designed with helipads on their decks for receiving manned airships, a vast majority of these containerships maximize their deck space to accommodate cargo, leaving little space for dedicated landing zones. The Skyports team also needed a delivery solution that could service these ships without having to land the drone on the vessels.

Solution

The Skyports commercial delivery drone fleet servicing the Port of Singapore needed to be able to accommodate varying payloads. To enable greater flexibility and serve ships without sufficient landing decks, the Skyports team has integrated the A2Z Drone Delivery RDS2 commercial drone winch into its delivery drones. The purpose-built UAV winch offers unique advantages for deploying payloads to the decks of anchored ships. Most importantly, for ships with deck-mounted cables or other rigging, the winch allows payloads to be deposited from altitude by lowering cargo with the winch. The RDS2’s integrated safety measures, such as its automatic tether entanglement detection, bring added protection.

The RDS2 winch can also automatically deposit its payloads without a crew member needing to wait for the drone’s arrival. The delivery drone can simply hover above its target delivery zone, lower its tether, and the payload will automatically be released onto the deck. 

The drone winch can also be leveraged to retrieve the collected samples of bunker, water, lubricant oil, or other packages the crew needs to send ashore. Able to reel up payloads up to 5 kg, the RDS2 commercial drone winch ensures deliveries can be made from ships on which UAVs were unable to safely land.

Results

Bringing the transformative nature of drone delivery to the Port of Singapore, Skyports is able to not only streamline the port’s internal logistics services, but also help port operators reduce carbon emissions, all while keeping manned delivery vessels from further clogging the busy harbor. With only about 20% of the vessels visiting the harbor outfitted with helipads on their decks, integrating the RDS2 commercial drone winch into Skyports drone fleet ensures the company’s maritime delivery service can service more vessels making port calls.

Traditional boat-borne deliveries to awaiting cargo vessels can take hours to conduct. With its BVLOS fleet of delivery drones, Skyports was able to conduct trial deliveries in just 15 minutes. The potential cost savings to port service providers are also significant, as delivery boats, their crews, and fuel were saved by the electric, unmanned aerial deliveries. Each UAV-executed delivery also means one less time a delivery crew needs to make the often-dangerous transition from their vessel to the cargo ship.

The introduction of drone deliveries is transforming legacy processes in the maritime industry. “All our work is underpinned by the commitment to realizing greater connectivity, safety, and efficiency standards through drone technology, and we are excited to be bringing this much-needed service to our customers in Singapore,” says Skyports Drone Services Asia-Pacific general manager, Sanjay Suresh.

 

*Photo credits: Skyports Drone Services.