Blog: Drones Deliver in the Maritime Environment
Maritime Drones are used by ship operators and harbor masters for everything from ship and cargo inspection, security, environmental reconnaissance, and even to supply vessels with needed provisions and spare parts. These remotely controlled machines—drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)—are often able to move as easily through water as air.
In fact, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) awarded a contract to Tekever, a European drone manufacturer, for remotely piloted aircraft surveillance of European waters. In 2021, remotely piloted aircraft began the work of environmental protection (detection of pollution, identification of polluters, and finding illegal dumping), fisheries control, and general maritime law enforcement.
But there are challenges to the new technology in this, often harsh environment. Problems with the future of maritime drones include errors, weather interference, and coverage limits reports “Applications, Evolutions, and Challenges of Drones in Maritime Transport,” published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.
Regular inspections of a ship’s structural integrity as well as its storage tanks and internal infrastructure need to be carried out in often dark, complex, and hard-to-maneuver spaces. To help with this situation, the British company Martek Marine developed Elios, a “collision tolerant drone” cradled in a frame that protected its rotors. This UAS could "bounce off” or “roll across obstacles” without any damage to the unit.
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Martek may have introduced Elios, but it was Flyability that retired both Elios 1 and Elios 2 and introduced Elios 3 this year. The newest version of the drone has a payload that the company dubs a “flying UTM gauge.” Developed in partnership with Cygnus Instruments, Elios 3 is able to inspect materials, detect flaws, and provide measurements and display them in a 3D model. Designed for testing in places unreachable with scaffolding, crawlers, or cherry pickers, this drone can measure the spot thickness of steel in ship hulls, inside tanks, and between pipe ranks.
Back in 2019, Wilhelmsen Ships Services partners with Airbus trialed bringing a variety of small, time-critical maritime essentials to working vessels. However, in 2021 it was Volansi that used fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing drones to complete deliveries to and between ships. Also, start-up Natilus and Dronamics have joined the competition with its autonomous cargo airplanes to be an alternative to cargo ships. Thanks to European Union funding, Dronamics became the first fully licensed cargo drone airline in Europe in 2023 and its fixed-wing remotely-piloted aircraft can carry 350 kilograms of cargo, the same as a small delivery van, and has a range of 2,500 kilometers, enough to connect most of Europe.
The environmental NGO Parley for the Oceans joined Intel and SnotBot in Alaska where they used AI, advanced drone technology, and machine learning to collect whale’s biological samples and analyze the data in real time. According to Intel, without ever leaving the boat and possibly alarming the whales, the research team were also able to identify a whale from a past expedition, confirm pregnancy in another whale, and gather real-time data on cetacean health.
More for You: Using Drones to Tag Whales
The Loon Copter is a multi-rotor platform capable of traditional aerial flight, on-water surface operation, and sub aquatic diving. It can fly like a normal quadcopter drone but can also land and rest on the water’s surface. Developed by Oakland University, the drone can be used for many applications, including search and rescue operations, bridge foundation inspections, underwater pipeline inspections, tracking of oil spills at different depths, and marine life studies.
Cathy Cecere is membership content program manager.
In fact, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) awarded a contract to Tekever, a European drone manufacturer, for remotely piloted aircraft surveillance of European waters. In 2021, remotely piloted aircraft began the work of environmental protection (detection of pollution, identification of polluters, and finding illegal dumping), fisheries control, and general maritime law enforcement.
But there are challenges to the new technology in this, often harsh environment. Problems with the future of maritime drones include errors, weather interference, and coverage limits reports “Applications, Evolutions, and Challenges of Drones in Maritime Transport,” published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.
Ship inspection
Regular inspections of a ship’s structural integrity as well as its storage tanks and internal infrastructure need to be carried out in often dark, complex, and hard-to-maneuver spaces. To help with this situation, the British company Martek Marine developed Elios, a “collision tolerant drone” cradled in a frame that protected its rotors. This UAS could "bounce off” or “roll across obstacles” without any damage to the unit. Discover the benefits of ASME membership
Martek may have introduced Elios, but it was Flyability that retired both Elios 1 and Elios 2 and introduced Elios 3 this year. The newest version of the drone has a payload that the company dubs a “flying UTM gauge.” Developed in partnership with Cygnus Instruments, Elios 3 is able to inspect materials, detect flaws, and provide measurements and display them in a 3D model. Designed for testing in places unreachable with scaffolding, crawlers, or cherry pickers, this drone can measure the spot thickness of steel in ship hulls, inside tanks, and between pipe ranks.
Drone delivery
Whether it’s delivering packages from ship to shore, moving items between ships, or replacing the ship entirely and delivering cargo across the ocean, drones are beginning to economically take away the need to launch expensive, carbon-emitting vessels to deliver essentials such as physical documents or vital medical supplies.Back in 2019, Wilhelmsen Ships Services partners with Airbus trialed bringing a variety of small, time-critical maritime essentials to working vessels. However, in 2021 it was Volansi that used fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing drones to complete deliveries to and between ships. Also, start-up Natilus and Dronamics have joined the competition with its autonomous cargo airplanes to be an alternative to cargo ships. Thanks to European Union funding, Dronamics became the first fully licensed cargo drone airline in Europe in 2023 and its fixed-wing remotely-piloted aircraft can carry 350 kilograms of cargo, the same as a small delivery van, and has a range of 2,500 kilometers, enough to connect most of Europe.
Studying the sea
The environmental NGO Parley for the Oceans joined Intel and SnotBot in Alaska where they used AI, advanced drone technology, and machine learning to collect whale’s biological samples and analyze the data in real time. According to Intel, without ever leaving the boat and possibly alarming the whales, the research team were also able to identify a whale from a past expedition, confirm pregnancy in another whale, and gather real-time data on cetacean health. More for You: Using Drones to Tag Whales
The Loon Copter is a multi-rotor platform capable of traditional aerial flight, on-water surface operation, and sub aquatic diving. It can fly like a normal quadcopter drone but can also land and rest on the water’s surface. Developed by Oakland University, the drone can be used for many applications, including search and rescue operations, bridge foundation inspections, underwater pipeline inspections, tracking of oil spills at different depths, and marine life studies.
Cathy Cecere is membership content program manager.
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