Singapore has witnessed its first commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone delivery, with F-Drones flying cargo for 2.7 kilometres in just seven minutes to a ship managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS).
In a statement, F-Drones said the delivery, which it described as a “milestone” contained 2 kilograms of vitamins, and that it was the first company in Singapore to receive an authorisation from the aviation authority, to conduct BVLOS drone deliveries to ships in the country.
For now, this is limited to drone deliveries to ships anchored south of the marina area, however, work is underway to expand operations.
F-drones plans to complete the development of its 100kg-100km drone in the second half of 2021. The latest prototype, which is its third, named Hyperlaunch, would be able to deliver 5kg loads over 50km to ships.
F-drones will be starting commercial operations using Hyperlaunch towards the end of 2020, after more tests and improvements.
“These traditional means of transport are expensive, slow, labour and carbon intensive,” said Nicolas Ang, CEO, F-Drones.
“F-drones’ solutions can help save up to 80% of the costs, time and CO2 emissions. Besides being efficient, delivery drones can also reduce unnecessary human contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
