Drone whisks food orders from Sentosa to St John's Island in delivery trial

SINGAPORE - Visitors to the Southern Islands could one day have their meals flown in from food and beverage establishments in Sentosa, after a drone food-delivery pilot took off on Tuesday (March 22).

The trial, which sees Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) collaborating with ST Engineering and foodpanda, aims to extend the reach of Sentosa's F&B outlets to service customers in the Southern Islands, which do not currently have such amenities.

Under the pilot, which runs till April 9, staff on St John's Island - such as those working at the Singapore Food Agency's Marine Aquaculture Centre and the St John's Island National Marine Laboratory - will be able to order meals from more than 20 F&B establishments in Sentosa and VivoCity via the foodpanda app.

The meals are then transported by foodpanda riders to a take-off point at Sentosa's Tanjong Beach.

From there, a drone will take a seven-minute flight, carrying the meals over about 4km to St John's Island to be picked up by staff there. 

The flights will take place between 11am and 1pm during the trial.

The feasibility and operational requirements of such drone food deliveries will be studied during the pilot, said SDC in a statement.

Mr Lee Cheh Hsien, a divisional director for planning at SDC, said on Wednesday during a media event that the drone trial has the potential to support Sentosa’s businesses and enhance the leisure experiences of guests.

Last October, SDC launched a ferry service from Sentosa Cove to Lazarus Island - which is connected to St John's Island - to broaden the range of leisure options for its guests.

"Should drone food deliveries be operationally and commercially feasible, we hope that this service can be extended to our guests visiting the neighbouring Southern Islands," he said.

Mr Teong Soo Soon, vice-president and head of unmanned air systems at ST Engineering, said that for the general public to be able to enjoy such services, the trial partners will have to find a safe and secure location for the drones to land, and think about how the public can collect their orders.

Having customers retrieve food from the drones requires more planning, said Mr Teong, due to concerns over safety and the potential for mishandling or damaging the drones.

While the drones can operate under a drizzle, Mr Teong said they are susceptible to high wind conditions, and operations will have to be paused if winds are stronger than a drone can handle.

Mr Lee added that as trials have only just commenced, the partners will have to further study when and if the drone delivery service can be rolled out to the public, and whether other Southern Islands could also be serviced.

Mr Miro Banovic, head of logistics at foodpanda Singapore, said that for a group order for five to seven people on St John's Island, each individual can expect to pay between $6 and $8 for delivery fees.

There are also certain limitations on what can be ordered, he said. For instance, large pizza boxes may not fit on the drone, and bottled drinks are preferred to prevent spillage.

Each drone can bear a load of up to 10kg.

Mr Banovic said that deliveries to the drone site from participating restaurants typically take about 20 to 30 minutes, including food preparation, barring bad weather and unexpected traffic.

Ms Camie Chua, senior manager of marketing and business development at Mount Faber Leisure Group - which manages Good Old Days, one of the F&B outlets under the trial - said that while it is too early to determine the impact drone deliveries could have on business, it is a win for Sentosa's F&B outlets as they are now able to tap a previously unreached customer segment.

The eatery has several rice dishes on the menu for drone deliveries, as well as lighter bites such as chicken wings and salads.

This delivery pilot across islands follows an August 2020 collaboration between ST Engineering and foodpanda, which saw five packets of fried chicken flown from Marina South Pier to an offshore vessel 3km away in a 10-minute test flight.

The new pilot is also part of the Sentosa x Enterprise scheme, an initiative launched by SDC in April 2019 that offers local enterprises a chance to trial ideas, concepts and technologies.

Seven other projects have been tested under the initiative, including autonomous vehicles and a solar-powered sunscreen kiosk.

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Deliveries by drone in S'pore

April 2020

Singapore's first drone delivery takes flight: a parcel containing 2kg of vitamins is dropped off on a ship anchored off the island.

The 2.7km, seven-minute flight took off from Marina South Pier - the result of a one-year deal inked between shipping firm Eastern Pacific Shipping and local start-up F-drones.

Each drone can take up to 5kg of supplies and travel up to 5km offshore each way.

ST Engineering and foodpanda partner to deliver five packets of fried chicken from Marina South Pier to a PACC Offshore Services Holdings vessel in a test flight. The delivery to the vessel located 3km off the pier took about 10 minutes.

The country's first Maritime Drone Estate in Marina South Pier is launched, allowing maritime drone fliers to test their wares, including by delivering 3D-printed shipping parts to vessels docked near Singapore's shores.

As at March, British outfit Skyports, home-grown technology giant ST Engineering, and local start-up F-drones have received approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to begin recurring commercial trials out of the Maritime Drone Estate.

They deliver small items like cash, 3D-printed shipping parts and fuel samples from Marina South to ships out at sea.