Rise of the machines

Why maritime drones will soon be commonplace

Everybody wants to talk about drones. They are new and exciting and perhaps equally capable, intriguing and fun. There are profound new applications for drones to enhance maritime operations – but with those tangible benefits comes an entirely new threat vector previously unforeseen by even the wildest of imaginations.

Regardless of any preconceived notions you may have about drones and their uses, no one can dispute that the technology is here to stay and we are only just beginning to explore their uses.

What is a drone? The term is commonly used to describe unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems (UAVs and UASs). In fact, the terms ‘drone’, ‘UAV’ and ‘UAS’ are often used interchangeably to describe the same thing – an aircraft without humans onboard with ground-based control. Drones are appealing to send to places that are typically too expensive, dangerous or monotonous to send a manned aircraft. However, drones do not typically operate out of the sight of the controller with autonomy.

Although the vast majority of drones are flown by private hobbyists, they are being used increasingly for military and commercial purposes. With diverse applications such as wildfire mapping, disaster management, law enforcement/security monitoring, infrastructure inspection, media coverage and freight transport, it is estimated by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) that 100,000 new jobs will be created by 2025 as a direct result of drone integration within the National Airspace System, generating an impact of US$ 82 billion.

In the maritime realm, new categories of drones are emerging, such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater surface vessels (UUSVs), which have valuable applications as military, security and environmental force multipliers. Drones are now capable of bridge, pier and vessel hull inspections, thus reducing the need to use divers for such potentially dangerous operations.

Drone use at terminals and ports

Port facilities and terminal operators are just now beginning to explore the use of drones to survey wide spaces within their area of responsibility, most commonly for facility inspections and operational aids rather than security applications.

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