Key Takeaways

• For the autonomous drone delivery from shore to ship market, the F-Drone assessed that the value is around a billion dollars.
• According to a market research estimate from Mordor Intelligence, the overall global drones delivery market was worth around $2 billion in 2020.  
• The market value of this sector is driven by the heightened need amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to deploy drones to deliver a variety of medical supplies, devices, packages, and other types of loads. To comply with physical distancing protocols, rapid contactless delivery requirements to far-flung areas are in demand versus the old ways of delivery methods.

Introduction

Autonomous Drone Delivery from Shore to Ship Market

• One of the companies providing this service in Singapore is the F-Drone company. The company recently made a nighttime trip to deliver a package to the Berge Sarstein bulker.
• The F-Drone company was established to address a costly problem in the energy, maritime, mining, and offshore segments. These sectors are heavily dependent on boats and choppers to deliver goods to ships and offshore sites. These traditional transportation methods are costly, slow, and carbon-heavy.
• For this niche segment, F-Drone assessed that the value is around a billion dollars. The company also mentioned that the advantages are greater than the risks of this disruptive innovation.
• Huge shipping firms such as the Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), the GAC group, the Schulte Group, and Hafnia have already employed F-Drone's services for this.
•  Maersk reported that it is the first shipping company to have completed the first drone delivery to a ship at sea in 2016 due to the explosive nature of the target area.
•  Wilhelmsen's Ships Agency and Airbus will also be launching the delivery of critical maritime packages through Airbus’ Skyways unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to ships that are anchored in Singapore's harbor.
• Based on a report from Wilhelmsen, shore-to-ship drone delivery can make this delivery route more efficient, productive, and efficient.
•  Shore-to-Ship drone delivery services also have a faster response rate and turnaround duration than the typical launch boat delivery operation. Given this, drone delivery service can potentially dring down shore-to-ship delivery charges by around 90%.

Overall Global Drone Delivery Market

• According to a market research estimate from Mordor Intelligence, the overall global drones delivery market was worth around $2 billion in 2020.
• This value is expected to go up to $5.6 billion in 2026 with a CAGR of around 14% from 2021 to 2026.
• Meanwhile, a market research study from the Fortune Business Insights company mentioned that the drone delivery sector is expected to be worth around $7.39 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 41.8%.
• The market value of this sector is driven by the heightened need amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to deploy drones to deliver a variety of medical supplies, devices, packages, and other types of loads. To comply with physical distancing protocols, rapid contactless delivery requirements to far-flung areas are in demand versus the old ways of delivery methods.
• With the rising need for drone delivery services worldwide, many countries are making their policies less stringent to facilitate the movement of drones in their airspaces. This is also expected to hasten the increase in the acquisition of more drones to provide new delivery pathways for far-flung areas during the forecast duration.
• As this sector is still in its early growth phase with huge opportunities on the horizon, many firms such as Google LLC, Amazon.com Inc., and Deutsche Post DHL Group have placed their investments in honing and launching their own delivery drones fleets. On top of this, several firms have launched their own drones in the last few years, tested their first voyages, and got their approvals from authorities with regard to the deployment of these delivery drones. These updates are expected to further push the growth of this sector in the years to come.
• The retail and logistics space is now holding a huge portion of the drone delivery market. This space is projected to maintain its dominant share during the forecast period as a result of the heightened demand for drones to move packages from retail establishments, e-commerce operators, last-mile delivery forms, shore-to-ship drone services, and postal firms.
•  Large e-commerce firms and local postal entities, in cooperation with local governments, are deploying drone delivery fleets to lessen the efforts needed to move packages to far-flung islands, mountainous regions, and urban locations.
• As an example, the UK is finalizing its approach to let drones move products to provincial locations in accordance with their overall strategy to launch advanced transport innovations in remote areas and bring down carbon emissions.
• The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore also started a new initiative to employ drones to transport various types of packages to ships that are moored in its harbor in accordance with the country's plans to incorporate innovative drone technologies for the marine sector.
• As a result of the insufficient number of delivery staff and the impact of the pandemic, the need to address the shifts in the logistics sector has now become more pressing. This has also contributed to the growth of the drone delivery market.
• The Asia-Pacific market is projected to experience the steepest jump during the forecast period. With the shifting policies in the countries, the heightened support for commercial drone businesses is pushing the growth of drone delivery services in the territory.
• China is the biggest market for delivery drones as a result of the heightened delivery drone services demanded by large e-commerce firms such as JD.com and the Alibaba Group.

Competitive Landscape

• The delivery drones market is extremely fragmented with numerous players launching their own operations into the market. The leading players in the aircraft delivery drones segment include DJI, United Parcel Service of America Inc., Zipline, Deutsche Post AG, Flytrex, and Amazon.com Inc.
• The introduction of competitors from the logistics, healthcare, and food delivery segments into the drone delivery space resulted in heightened competition for delivery drone OEMs.
• Last year, Wing Australia, part of Google’s parent company Alphabet, reported that it has completed thousands of drone deliveries in the country. Introduced in Canberra in 2019, the need for Wing’s services increased by 500% from February and April 2020. 

Research Strategy