Testing is already underway on F-drones' 3rd prototype that is capable of handling items up to 5 kilogrammes over 50 kilometres.

F-drones can help to reduce cost, time and manpower in sending supplies to vessels. Its drones are fully electric and are therefore environmentally friendly in reducing carbon emissions when supplying to ships.

At a time when social distancing as a measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is at the top of the agenda for many, delivery by drone can also help reduce social contact.

"Joining forces with F-drones is part of GAC's drive to embrace technology to develop new ways to meet the demands of the maritime industry we serve," said GAC vice president Lars Bergstrom. "When fully commercialised, drones can be an attractive alternative to launches and helicopters for delivering supplies to vessels, especially for on-demand deliveries."

GAC's Singapore office will be supporting F-drones in a test flight to deliver packages to vessels in the near future.

F-drones has received Singapore's first Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) drone delivery permit and is now scaling up commercial delivery with an off-the-shelf drone.

"We are working towards launching our first commercial drone flight of our proprietary drone which can fly 10 times further later this year," says Nicolas Ang, co-founder and CEO of F-drones. "The support of GAC and all our partners is vital in helping us make this happen."

Besides GAC, F-drones counts Eastern Pacific Shipping, the Schulte Group, Techstars, Port XL, Entrepreneur First and Hafnia among its supporters.

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