Three of Europe's largest ports - Rotterdam, Antwerp with Bruges, and Hamburg - have joined forces to pioneer the use of drones in port operations. They have set themselves the goal of driving innovation, increasing safety and improving efficiency.

The Drone Alliance was launched in early September 2025 at the first edition of DroneHorizon. DroneHorizon is the flagship event of a multi-year European collaboration between three major innovation centres: DronePort Rotterdam (Port of Rotterdam), The Beacon (Port of Antwerp-Bruges) and Windrove - Hamburg Aviation (Port of Hamburg). The first event brought together more than 300 participants from sixteen countries, including representatives from governments, industry and knowledge institutes.

DroneHorizon will take place alternately, starting in Rotterdam in 2025, Antwerp-Bruges in 2026 and Hamburg in 2027. The focus is on a common mission: to accelerate and advance the development and introduction of autonomous and unmanned systems in critical areas. Defence should also benefit from this, as safe ports are essential for receiving military equipment from allies.

For the Dutch Defence Minister, the lesson from the war against Ukraine is clear: in modern conflicts, the speed of innovation is crucial. The same creativity and speed is therefore needed for European ports and logistics chains, as the armed forces cannot guarantee security alone. Only through cross-border and cross-sector cooperation can we keep Europe strong, secure and prosperous.

DroneHorizon is thus laying the foundations for a European agenda on drones and autonomous systems. The focus is on applications with civil and military benefits, such as harbour logistics, inspections and the protection of critical infrastructure (KRITIS). We can only hope that DroneHorizon will quickly find imitators.

kdk, SWZ-Maritime