Maritime drones are to keep an eye on the construction of offshore wind farms, sustainable energy generation at sea and ever busier shipping traffic. The Maritime Drone Initiative Noord-Holland (MDI) seeks to develop drones for this purpose.
‘Developments in the North Sea are creating new business activity. For example, the inspection and maintenance of wind farms or the transport of goods and materials to ships,’ Thijs Pennink, Director of the Noord-Holland North Development Company and one of the partners of the MDI points out. ‘With the MDI, we as a region can attract high-quality technological companies and at the same time give a boost to technological innovations around drones. And this is something that our region is in great need of. So it’s a win-win situation.’
An important feature of MDI is the Mobile Field Lab Maritime Drones. The Field Lab consists of two containers that have been set up as an instruction and briefing room and maintenance workshop. They are available for test and demonstration flights in the region. Alderman Kees Visser officially put the Mobile Field Lab Maritime Drones into operation on Thursday 24 October.
The MDI is one of the outcomes of a civil-military cooperation. Den Helder was chosen as the home-base due the strong representation of maritime and offshore (energy) companies and the presence of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Coast Guard with its supervisory role in the North Sea.
Drones for Extreme Conditions
Drones have great potential in the maritime domain. They are mainly small, lightweight systems that can be deployed flexibly on vessels or structures at sea. The drones currently on the market are not suitable for use under extreme conditions at sea, in the salty environment, for extremely long flights or for data collection. The MDI seeks to develop maritime drones that do meet these requirements.
Opportunity for Dutch Drone Companies
The MDI allows Dutch drone companies to develop their drones further. The MDI is based at Den Helder Airport. In and around this location it is possible to carry out tests and flights and to give market demonstrations. With the Field Lab, flight results can be recorded from any sea or land location in the region.
Partners MDI
The first partners of MDI are the Maritime Drone Team of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Dutch Coast Guard, the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), Dutch Air Force Command (CLSK), the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), the Noord-Holland North Development Company, the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, CHC Helicopters and Den Helder Airport. Texel Airport and Middenmeer Airport will also join in.
