Drones must be pilot-tested at Esbjerg Harbor

The DanPilot-owned company VesCo is moving into Esbjerg Harbor in the spring to realize the possibility of testing piloting with a drone. Esbjerg's port director sees drone piloting as a natural development to improve services with new technology - and the port is suitable for the test with long sailing runs.

"Drones can assist the pilot's work with a bird's eye view during the sailing race to Esbjerg and during maneuvers in the harbour. A drone equipped with an infrared camera increases safety in poor visibility when, for example, it is foggy," says CEO of DanPilot, Erik Merkes Nielsen.

"With the collaboration in Esbjerg, VesCo has high expectations that tests will show that the high level of safety for piloting can be maintained with a drone-assisted solution," he adds.

Esbjerg Harbour, which is one of the country's busiest, with its long sailing course of just over 21 km, has been prepared for the test, and the harbour's director sees great potential in a drone-based solution.

"Our vision is an integrated solution where digitization and simulation ensure the most efficient port calls. We are therefore now taking the first steps towards a control centre, where ship calls are planned, checked and monitored with the technology we already have the opportunity to use," says port director Dennis Jul Pedersen.

DanPilot established VesCo in 2018 and has since worked on the possibility of increasing safety by developing an alternative to conventional piloting, which will make piloting available to more ships and now the company will make the first test flights during the late summer.

The test phase runs until the end of 2024 when the parties hope that the necessary permits for commercial drone-assisted operations have been received.