Maersk in Containership Drone Delivery

Maersk has completed a test run of a drone transporting small cargo shipments from shore to ship, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The drone was able to transport a small cookie package around 250 metres to a cargo ship, where the delivery was dropped around five metres onto the deck.

This development follows a recent news piece published by PTI announcing that Maersk Tankers had completed its first drone delivery out to sea.

Technical Paper: Maersk Line Q&A

Tommy Thomassen, Technical Director at Maersk Tankers, said: “We normally try to consolidate our deliveries by barge to cut costs. With the drones, smaller deliveries can be more frequent, depending on the urgency.”

Mr Thomassen said that this kind of system “opens up all kinds of possibilities for deliveries including spare parts and other supplies”.

Maersk recently made a move to increase freight rates by US$400 per TEU from Asia-Northern Europe and by $500 per TEU from Asia to the Mediterranean.