BVLOS transportation of dangerous good

The operation connected a marine terminal on Pulau Sebarok with the Maritime Drone Estate on the Singapore mainland. ADLC flew the complete operational route in both directions, exactly as it would on a commercial mission, using its PW ORCA electric VTOL cargo aircraft and carrying representative sample payloads.

ADLC holds a Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit covering both beyond visual line of sight operations and the carriage of dangerous goods. According to ADLC, it is the first and only permit of its kind issued in Singapore and, to the company’s knowledge, in Asia. For this particular demonstration, dangerous goods were not carried.

The choice of Singapore is significant. As the world’s largest bunkering port and one of the most complex operating environments in the region, it provides a demanding setting in which to demonstrate how petroleum cargo samples classified as dangerous goods could eventually be transported safely and routinely by air.

“There are easier places in Asia to fly a first demonstration, and quieter airspace to do it in,” said Arthur Baeyens, Managing Director APAC at ADLC. “We chose Singapore because it is the hardest version of this problem. If a sample logistics operation can be trusted here, in the world’s busiest bunkering hub, in front of the people who actually run it, it can be trusted anywhere. That is why we would rather prove it in Singapore than somewhere quieter where not everything has to be perfect.”

From DronePort to international operations

ADLC is a resident company at DronePort in Sint Truiden, where it makes use of the campus and aviation infrastructure for activities including aircraft testing and maintenance.

The company’s progress in Singapore illustrates how technologies and operational capabilities developed and supported within the DronePort ecosystem can be deployed in real world environments internationally. As ADLC continues to expand its activities across Europe, Asia and other markets, DronePort aims to remain a strong home base and partner for the company, providing the infrastructure and environment needed to test, maintain and further develop its operations.

Supporting companies throughout that journey is at the heart of DronePort’s mission. The ambition is not only to provide a location where new aviation technologies can be developed and tested, but also to help resident companies scale those technologies into operational applications around the world. For ADLC, Singapore is intended to be the beginning of a broader rollout.

“Singapore was not a one off. We built this model to be repeated, and we have already shown we can move faster than the industry is used to: our Singapore permit took mere months when comparable approvals elsewhere have taken years. We are now in active discussions to bring the same terminal to laboratory model and many other cases to other ports and offshore locations across the region. The infrastructure is fixed, the procedures are proven, and every route we add gets faster to launch than the one before it. Singapore is the first APAC deployment. It will not be the last.”

The Singapore operation covered approximately 13 kilometres each way between the Maritime Drone Estate on the mainland and a marine terminal on Pulau Sebarok. For DronePort, ADLC’s continued international expansion is exactly the type of growth the ecosystem is designed to enable. We look forward to continuing to support the ADLC team with the infrastructure, testing environment and aviation expertise they need as they bring their cargo drone operations to more locations around the world.