Concept Tracking in Hong Kong Stock Market | First Sea-Bound Drone Completes Offshore Logistics Transportation
CCTV News reports that China's domestically developed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) drone, with a payload capacity of over 2 tons, has successfully completed its maiden voyage for offshore logistics transportation. This breakthrough marks a crucial step forward in China's application of low-altitude logistics technology.
According to CCTV News, the eVTOL drone, named "Kerry Hawk," took off from Shenzhen's land-based takeoff point and flew over 58 minutes across the sea before landing at an offshore oil platform, successfully completing its transportation mission.
Zhang Xiaohu, deputy general manager of China Offshore Oil Co. Ltd.'s Shenzhen Branch, said that compared to traditional shipping methods using ships and helicopters, eVTOL drones have significant advantages in terms of operating costs, response speed, environmental impact, comfort, and adaptability to limited takeoff spaces.
Zhang also emphasized that this trial flight combined innovative aviation technology with mature operational experience and real-world offshore requirements to form a "research + operation + scenario" low-altitude logistics ecosystem, achieving breakthroughs in long-distance emergency cargo transportation, responding to fishing vessel interference, and showcasing the massive potential of eVTOL technology empowering traditional energy industries.
Around the world, the transportation revolution is on the cusp of a historic turning point, with eVTOL technology at its core. The low-altitude logistics system is expected to undergo a market-scale transformation worth $1 trillion over the next two decades, according to a report by American Bank.
On July 23, the 2025 International Low-Altitude Logistics Exhibition saw the largest overseas order for China's eVTOL industry. Warrant and Pan Pacific signed a three-party cooperation agreement with the China Aviation Technology International Engineering Co. Ltd., with Pan Pacific purchasing 500 units of VE25-100 eVTOLs from Warrant Aviation at a price of $17.5 billion, making it the largest single overseas order for China's eVTOL industry to date.
In addition, Time Technology secured a $10 billion eVTOL order from the UAE, while Little Penguin and Intel jointly established the Low-Altitude Aviation Technology Research Institute with Tsinghua University. According to market analysts, the industrialization process of low-altitude logistics is expected to speed up further.
Policies supporting the development of low-altitude logistics have been intensified, with Shenzhen releasing a plan for building high-quality low-altitude infrastructure (2024-2026). By the end of 2026, the city aims to have over 1,200 low-altitude landing points and open more than 1,000 commercial flight routes.
Around the world, the transportation revolution is on the cusp of a historic turning point, with eVTOL technology at its core. The low-altitude logistics system is expected to undergo a market-scale transformation worth $1 trillion over the next two decades, according to a report by American Bank.
As the first-ever government-led, civil aviation-supported drone industrial base in China, the East China Drone Industrial Base has been approved for development and is expected to become a key driver of the country's low-altitude logistics industry. With an area of over 1,370 square kilometers, it will provide a standardized environment for low-altitude flight.