A heavy-lift cargo drone has just hauled nearly 5,5 tonnes of cargo in a cargo delivery mission that may have changed the game for offshore logistics.

Made by FlyingBasket, the cargo drone transported several cargo boxes weighing around 85kg each from a ship to wind turbines owned by Danish company Ørsted, one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies.

According to a statement from Skylift, the offshore drone logistics company that was contracted to carry out the flights, the mission was carried out at Borssele 1&2 Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea.

With the use of FlyingBasket’s heavy cargo drones, Skylift delivered the cargo boxes to 94 wind turbines making it 5,460kg transported in total.

For this specific campaign, Ørsted said it had decided to update some critical evacuation and safety equipment in each of the turbines. Normally, a vessel would sail from one wind turbine to the next, using a crane to lift each box containing the equipment onto the transition piece, after which the box would be lifted with the nacelle’s crane to reach the nacelle and then be moved to the top of the turbine.

But this time around, the drone simply flew back and forth from an offshore supply vessel directly to the top of the nacelle. The drone flight from the vessel to the turbine took about four minutes per turbine, while the conventional approach without using drones can take approximately six hours.

Taking vessel transport between the turbines and from-and-to shore into account, Ørsted completed the tasks at Borssele ten to fifteen times faster than normally.

“It (the delivery operation) showcased Skylift’s ability to deliver parcels with unprecedented speed, reaching up to 20 deliveries per day,” the company said in a statement.

The mission started on the 29th of July and took 10 days to complete. The height that the drone had to scale from the ship to the wind turbine was about 150m.

“Ørsted has led offshore wind’s journey from a niche technology to a cost-competitive and large-scale source of renewable power,” Rasmus Errboe, Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy-CEO at Ørsted, said.

“We’ve done this through some big leaps by for example pioneering new turbine models, but also by continuously moving a lot of new and innovative ideas from the drawing board to real life application.

“The drones at Borssele 1&2 are a great example of this, as they will improve safety, bring down carbon emissions, and reduce the cost of operating offshore wind farms, which all further improve the commercial fundamentals of offshore wind for investors, governments, and corporations.”

The energy company further added that sustained deployment of the drones to deliver will reduce costs and time as well as improve operational safety and efficiency.

Drones mean less work disturbance as wind turbines do not have to be shut down when cargo is delivered, Orsted says. They prevent risk, making it safer for personnel working on the wind farm, and they minimise the need for multiple journeys by ship, reducing carbon emissions in the process.

“I’m happy to see our drones out there on the high seas, especially operated by a skilled operator for a renewable energy industry,”said Moritz Moroder, CEO of FlyingBasket.

Skylift further added that their latest triumph marks a significant milestone in the collaboration between all stakeholders, highlighting the potential of drone technology to support the renewable energy sector.

“The successful operation demonstrates how innovative solutions can enhance the efficiency and reliability of offshore wind farms, contributing to the broader adoption of sustainable energy practices,” the company said.

Skylift is a drone operator specialising in offshore logistics and delivery solutions, providing UAV VLOS and BVLOS solutions to solve logistical and time-critical challenges.

FlyingBasket, meanwhile,is a drone manufacturer headquartered in Bolzano, Italy, specialising in heavy-payload cargo drones with a 100kg payload capacity.

With a focus on innovation and safety, FlyingBasket provides efficient and sustainable solutions for various industries, including energy, powerline stringing, logistics, and construction.

The company’s flagship product is the FB3 UAV is an unmanned multicopter heavy-lift drone with eight rotors, and powered by four rechargeable batteries. It has a push-pull motor configuration which ensures higher safety and greater performance while keeping compact dimensions.

The UAV is designed to carry up to a 100kg; and – depending on the cargo – can fly for any distance between 2.5km and 25km.