GAC testing delivery of supplies to vessels via drones

Gulf Agency Company (GAC) has partnered with Singapore-based start-up F-drones to develop large-scale drones that can deliver up to 100kg of supplies over 100km to vessels and offshore platforms.

The international ship agency said that testing was underway on F-drones’ 3rd prototype that is capable of handling items up to 5kg over 50km.

Employment of drones in the supply of spare parts and supplies is expected to bring numerous benefits, especially with respect to cutting costs, saving time and increasing efficiency of the process.

Furthermore, since F-drones employs fully electric drones, the environmental footprint of the supply process would also be improved, GAC said.

At a time when social distancing as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is at the top of the agenda for many, delivery by drone can also help reduce social contact.

“Joining forces with F-drones is part of GAC’s drive to embrace technology to develop new ways to meet the demands of the maritime industry we serve,” says Lars Bergström, GAC Group Vice President, Asia Pacific & Indian Subcontinent.

“When fully commercialised, drones can be an attractive alternative to launches and helicopters for delivering supplies to vessels, especially for on-demand deliveries.”

GAC said that its Singapore office will be supporting F-drones in a test flight to deliver packages to vessels in the near future.

F-drones has received Singapore’s first Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) drone delivery permit and is now scaling up commercial delivery with an off-the-shelf drone.

“We are working towards launching our first commercial drone flight of our proprietary drone which can fly 10 times further later this year,” says Nicolas Ang, Co-founder & CEO of F-drones.

“The support of GAC and all our partners is vital in helping us make this happen.”

Besides GAC, F-drones counts Eastern Pacific Shipping, the Schulte Group, Techstars, Port XL, Entrepreneur First and Hafnia among its supporters.