PD Ports, owner and operator of Teesport and Statutory Harbour Authority for the River Tees, is has announced a new partnership with heliguy™, a company in the commercial drone industry, to further boost efficiencies and resilience across Teesport.
The investment includes the procurement of five drones that are designed to optimise operations and reduce risks, as well as tailored, remote-pilot training for 17 people across the port group.
The equipment will be utilised across a variety of departments including Harbour Police, Engineering to deliver multiple benefits to the business, and the wider river community, including emergency response, surveillance, surveying as well as asset and infrastructure management, according to a statement.
“By implementing the new technology and training people across a number of departments, including Harbour Police, Health and Safety, Engineering, Conservancy and Commercial, we can really boost our capabilities in a number of areas,” said Neil Dalus, PD Ports’ Group Civil Engineering Manager, who is leading on the project.
“By utilising drone technology we can reduce the risks associated with working from height and gather better quality data to make the whole port complex more efficient. It will also enable us to further increase our security across the river, giving the Harbour Police tools to offer faster responses whilst obtaining a better, targeted view of any incidents,” explained Neil Dalus.
Eight Harbour Police constables have passed their General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) training with heliguy™ and are now able to fly the drones safely with the rest of the team due to commence their training later this month, according to an announcement.
Matthew Cairns, part of the enterprise sales team at heliguy™, said, “This technology will now find its place within various departments and disciplines across the PD Ports Group and we’re excited to be assisting the team in developing that capability from the ground up.”
