Drone aids in a water rescue operation in the port of Helsinki

29.8.2024 | Susanna Puomio

In the Port of Helsinki, a pilot was conducted to see if a drone could be used to support sea rescue missions. The test provided promising results.

At the end of August, in Helsinki, a pilot was conducted to see if a drone could transport a rescue buoy, a flotation device that opens upon water contact, to someone in distress at sea. Drones are already used for surveying accident sites and searching for those in need, so transporting a buoy would be a natural additional task.

During the pilot, on a windy morning, a rescue service person jumped into the water and the drone flew a rescue buoy to them from about 500 meters away. The idea is that the drone can often reach the scene faster than human rescuers.

“Drones are a functional addition to rescue work. With their help, a person in need of assistance can be located quickly in many situations,” says Fire Chief Petri Korhonen.

The Helsinki Rescue Department received the rescue equipment used in the pilot so they can also test flying them with their own drones.

“In this pilot, we tested not only the drone’s cargo dropping but also safe flying in the challenging environment of the harbor area,” says Timo Lind, the lead researcher at VTT, who was responsible for the technological implementation of the pilot.

Pilots show the responsible ways to use drones

Drone pilots are important because they give the city ideas and information on how drones could be used responsibly and in which tasks the technology could be beneficial. Transportation and cargo dropping is one of many possible use cases.

This pilot was part of the European Union-funded international CITYAM project, which supports cities in adopting drones and experiments with various tasks for which unmanned aerial vehicles could be used. In Stockholm, drones have been tested for chasing geese away from beaches, and in Hamburg, for surveying the port’s renovation needs.

The pilot and the CITYAM project are coordinated by the City of Helsinki’s innovation company Forum Virium Helsinki. The pilot was carried out in cooperation with VTT, the Port of Helsinki, and the Helsinki City Rescue Department.