Drone delivery is becoming the latest fad across the technological landscape. The possibility presented itself after F-drones, Singapore-based marine logistics start-up, announced the successful drone delivery of first parcel comprising 4.4 pounds of vitamins onto a ship managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping on April 19.

As per sources, it is first Singapore’s drone delivery service that lasted around seven minutes and covered more than 1.7 miles of distance. Each drone can deliver 5kg of supplies and cover 5km of offshore distance every day. F-drones is also planning to develop drones that can deliver 100 kilos of packages over 100 kilometers distance to offshore platforms and ships by the end of 2021.

The use of delivery drones is part of the nation’s drive to embrace technological innovation and effort to address manpower shortage in the nation

Speaking on which, Nicolas Ang, Chief Executive at F-drones said that people in large cities may not like  drone delivery because of its noise but this issue does not come in picture for offshore drone deliveries. Drone deliveries could also reduce unnecessary human contact amid on-going coronavirus pandemic, Ang added.

Presently, deliveries in the offshore region are being carried out by helicopters and small boats. The company claims that its unmanned vehicles may save up to 80% of the cost and is more sustainable.

Since its establishment last year, F-drones drew interest from numerous shipping companies. However, Singapore-based EPS was the only company that inked an agreement before trials of the drone were conducted. Both companies have inked an initial one year contract for 200 drone deliveries.

The CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) is working with several industry players to shape regulations for this sector. F-drones is the first company in Singapore which received authorization from Singapore's civil aviation authority for such drone deliveries.

Source credit- https://techxplore.com/news/2020-04-singapore-drone-delivery.html