We won! Seatrade Maritime Asia Awards - Technical Innovation Award

Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia has always been one of the region's most critical maritime award programme and every year, it attracts some of the region's most esteemed network of maritime players to partake in the competition. This year, we are very proud to announce that Ships Agency has successfully clinched the Technical Innovation Award with our Agency by Air project.​

This year's Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia was held in Hong Kong, with our GM Commercial, Liner Logistics – Ms Teresa Yuen, as our representative to receive the award on our behalf. It came off as a pleasant surprise when we were announced as the winner of the Technical Innovation Award as we knew that we were facing strong competition within the category. 

Marius Johansen, VP Commercial of Ships Agency says,  "It is a genuine, but completely unexpected honour to win this award and especially when I look at the innovations developed by the forward-leaning companies in this category.

When we announced two years ago that we would be using drones, rather than launch boats, to deliver essential spares, medical supplies and cash to Master, many in the industry likely dismissed the idea as nothing more than a marketing stunt."

As we celebrate Asia's Maritime Excellence together, this award will serve as a constant reminder for us to continue our active role in innovating digitally and remain at the forefront of competitiveness. As one of the important industry players, we will strive to push more boundaries' and create even more value in the heart of our operations and customers with our digital transformation.

About Agency by Air

Agency by Air is a collaboration between Wilhelmsen and Airbus in piloting the delivery of maritime essentials via unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from shore-to-ship. The UAS is an innovative system-of-systems that includes aviation-standard UAVs, ground control stations, weather monitoring, air navigation systems, operational and maintenance procedures.

The first trial flight took place in Singapore, with the drone autonomously navigating along pre-determined aerial corridors for 1.5km and depositing its 1.5kg cargo of 3D printed consumables onto Swire Pacific Offshore's AHTS vessel. This marks the first time in the world that shore-to-ship drone delivery technology is deployed in real port conditions, setting the benchmark for the global maritime industry on operational feasibility, technology development and regulatory framework.

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