A drone delivered a package to the deck of the offshore vessel Pioneering Spirit earlier this year, while it was moored at Alexiahaven in Maasvlakte. The aim of the flights is to decide whether drone deliveries will increase efficiency in the port of Rotterdam as well as simplify the movement of its users in the port area.

The development of drones is in full swing, and traffic and transport may well have a significant effect on this technology.

Ultimately, autonomous unmanned freight and passenger transport may also involve this. To this end, the next few years will be dedicated to phased airspace and drone technology planning.

Recent trials are an crucial first step in this phase, since they require the delivery of an actual package by a drone after a long-distance flight.

Some inland ships only call the port for a limited period of time. To gather specific items, the crew can not always have time to bring a car ashore. In this case, it might save a lot of time to buy parts online and have them transported by drone, for instance.

If drones handle a proportion of all the deliveries in the port area, this may result in a much quieter port area. Drones are electrically driven, after all. But the drones are still not completely silent, of course.

In January 2020, the consortium set out to work towards the realization of the prerequisites for the successful implementation in Dutch society of drone technology and urban air mobility, including public acceptance of this application and secure cooperation with other airspace users.

Maritime Business World