The Port of Rotterdam has announced that the first drone vertiport of the Netherlands has become operational, following the landing of a multirotor drone.
Vertiport ‘Galileo’ is located on the Future Mobility Park site at Merwehaven in Rotterdam, with a similar vertiport being located at the RDM shipyard on the other side of the Nieuwe Maas.
This configuration is a prototype for a network of vertiports in the port area.
In the future, drones will be used for all kinds of tasks in the Rotterdam port area, ranging from carrying out inspections and monitoring, to transporting packages, Port of Rotterdam reports.
This requires the establishment of a strategic network of universal take-off and landing platforms for drones, known as vertiports.
Some experimentation is needed before then, preferably in the most realistic setting possible and these two experimental vertiports meet that need, according to the port.
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“Drones are still mainly used for inspections and the next step is logistics,” said Tsjerk Kooistra, the Director of Dutch Drone Company, the company performing the test flight.
“We can already do a lot in terms of technology, but there are still many regulatory restrictions.
“This demo is just a first step in alerting the industry to the developments so they know this is on its way,” Kooistra added.
For this test flight, the DJI M300 RTK drone was controlled by a pilot on location.
The aim is for drones to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and for one operator to oversee multiple drone flights. Corridors between various areas also need to be established, the port reports.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority is playing a facilitating role in supporting drone operations in the port area.
This includes providing digital support for drone traffic, which should ultimately enable large-scale operation of BVLOS flights.
Earlier this month, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges launched the ‘D-Hive drone-in-a-box’ network to enhance security in the port area.
More recently, the Port of Rotterdam inaugurated the H2 Barge 1, the first zero-emission hydrogen-powered inland containership.
