Rise of the machines

Why maritime drones will soon be commonplace

Everybody wants to talk about drones. They are new and exciting and perhaps equally capable, intriguing and fun. There are profound new applications for drones to enhance maritime operations – but with those tangible benefits comes an entirely new threat vector previously unforeseen by even the wildest of imaginations.

Regardless of any preconceived notions you may have about drones and their uses, no one can dispute that the technology is here to stay and we are only just beginning to explore their uses.

What is a drone? The term is commonly used to describe unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems (UAVs and UASs). In fact, the terms ‘drone’, ‘UAV’ and ‘UAS’ are often used interchangeably to describe the same thing – an aircraft without humans onboard with ground-based control. Drones are appealing to send to places that are typically too expensive, dangerous or monotonous to send a manned aircraft. However, drones do not typically operate out of the sight of the controller with autonomy.

Although the vast majority of drones are flown by private hobbyists, they are being used increasingly for military and commercial purposes. With diverse applications such as wildfire mapping, disaster management, law enforcement/security monitoring, infrastructure inspection, media coverage and freight transport, it is estimated by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) that 100,000 new jobs will be created by 2025 as a direct result of drone integration within the National Airspace System, generating an impact of US$ 82 billion.

In the maritime realm, new categories of drones are emerging, such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater surface vessels (UUSVs), which have valuable applications as military, security and environmental force multipliers. Drones are now capable of bridge, pier and vessel hull inspections, thus reducing the need to use divers for such potentially dangerous operations.

Drone use at terminals and ports

Port facilities and terminal operators are just now beginning to explore the use of drones to survey wide spaces within their area of responsibility, most commonly for facility inspections and operational aids rather than security applications.

“Drone use for ports is still in its infancy, but there has been a lot more recent interest,” said Ryan English, chief executive and co-founder of FLYMOTION Unmanned Systems, a leading drone solution and services company with its head office in Tampa, Florida. “From my perspective, there is a lot of value in their use for inspection of tanks and other critical elements of a port, but there is also a security standpoint. A lot of ports and directors are still trying to understand the technology and see the value and benefit of it.”

Asked about the commercial maritime use of drones in the Caribbean at the current time, Mr English said there had been inquiries, but not widespread deployment. However, he anticipates a significant increase in the future as ports and facilities begin to venture into drone operations and see their value.

“To me, [a drone] is an absolutely advantageous tool because there are large facilities and they are required by a variety of regulations to be inspected,” he said. “Fixed-base cameras are great, but they have a limited view angle.”

Christopher Todd, president of Airborne Response, based in Miami Beach, Florida, said: “The way it seems to start, the port director or someone in the port office will have a son with the DJI Phantom [a popular quadcopter drone equipped with a camera] and start experimenting with different things and maybe the port will invest in a different application.”

Mr Todd stresses that, after a commercial entity sees the value of using a drone to augment its operations, it’s important to seek the right guidance to ensure proper investment and training. “Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that it quickly becomes outdated with better technology,” said Mr Todd. “Sometimes it’s a lot easier to hire out than to build your own program. It is not the core business of a port to start an aviation operation.”

Prying eyes

While offering profound and tangible benefits in terms of enhancing port and terminal operations, these new vehicles can also be used for malice towards the very critical infrastructure that needs protection. Drones essentially pose three main threats to maritime ports and facilities:

• They can crash into an object
• They can drop contraband or other unwanted items into a secure area
• They can be used for visual and/or electronic surveillance of a secure area.

Mr Todd said: “There has been interest from counter-UAS folks to keep prying eyes out. It is disconcerting because you don’t know if a nearby drone is a friend or a foe.”

Even if a drone flying overhead could be identified as either friendly or unfriendly, chances are that not much can be done to mitigate any threat.

Many companies offer counter-UAS technological solutions such as FLYMOTION incorporating radar, frequency detection, jamming and geofences to detect drones and deter them from flying in unauthorized areas. However, depending on the jurisdiction, legal guidelines prohibit the use of interfering signals from the ground. In the United States, for example, drones are required to be registered by the Federal Aviation Administration and any interference with a registered aircraft may be considered hijacking, resulting in stiff penalties.

Mr Todd predicts that the counter-UAS industry will grow exponentially once the regulatory environment opens up, which may happen as soon as within a few months. Of the Caribbean, he said: “Caribbean nations are aware of the drone threat, but they aren’t eager to invest in it yet. Generally, there is a wait-and-see approach to emulate US policies.”

A vision for the future

Experts agree that the commercial maritime industry has just passed through a new threshold. It is only a matter of time before these tools will become a common sight as they patrol a fenceline, inspect a tank farm, sweep a vessel hull and, yes, even deliver a pizza lunch. Only now are we beginning to explore the applications of these technologies.

The drone industry is riding a wave of optimism and it is tempting to compare this electronic revolution to others we have recently experienced.

“It is a lot like the internet of 1996 – like AOL [America Online], a walled garden of information – and since then internet use has exploded,” said Mr Todd. “It is a key of what is to come. The future is going to be when we have autonomy and out-of-line-of-sight operation. This is a ways off and that’s what everyone is looking for.”