In an industry breakthrough, Fednav this month became the first shipping company to employ drones, or Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV), for ice reconnaissance on a commercial voyage.
The Umiak I used these drones to scout ahead of the vessel in the ice-covered waters of the Labrador Coast.
The goal was to provide the captain and officers with detailed real-time visual information on the local ice conditions.
Enfotec, a Fednav subsidiary and industry leader, has specialized in providing advanced ice imagery and analysis to vessels operating in difficult ice conditions for 20 years. Despite recent advances in the quality of ice information available from satellite and radar images and conventional ice charts, there is a need to improve the information available to mariners.
