Flirtey to conduct first US ship-to-shore drone delivery
Flirtey has announced that it will be conducting what it believes will be the first US-based ship-to-shore drone delivery later this month. The purpose of the joint mission is to demonstrate how unmanned aircraft can provide life-saving aid to disaster victims.
The drone company will be teaming up with Dr. Timothy Amukele, assistant professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to conduct the test flights on 23 June on the New Jersey coastline.
Flirtey will fly drones carrying medical samples between an onshore medical relief camp at Cape May and a test facility on a vessel stationed off the coast. In a round trip, Flirtey drones will also deliver medical supplies from the vessel to the onshore medical camp.
Flirtey was the first company to conduct an FAA-approved delivery in the United States, and the first company to perform a fully autonomous drone delivery to a home in the US.
As previously reported by Post&Parcel, maritime shipping giant Maersk conducted a drone delivery test between two ships (a barge and a tanker) in the Danish port of Kalundborg earlier this year. Maersk had planned to run test between the ships and a shore base, but was prevented from doing so by foggy conditions.