Drone delivers bottle of vintage Champagne worth £360 to superyacht

A drone trial to transport premium goods from the coast of Monaco to a superyacht in the ocean has been completed, with a £360 bottle of Dom Pérignon vintage Champagne and 500g tin of Caviar arriving safely onboard.

The delivery took place on Saturday 30 September 2023, spearheaded by drone supplier Kookiejar of Sweden, MC CLIC, a drone manufacturer and operator, and Superyacht Supplies, a superyacht provisioning company.

The one-off delivery was part of a trial to test whether drones could be used to transport goods and services onto yachts in the future.

It aims to lay the groundwork for the establishment of a U-Space in Monaco, ushering in on-demand drone services, and the trial was supported by the Aviation Civile and the Maritime Authority of Monaco.

Once approved, the service could see drones transport up to 40kg worth of goods for future deliveries, though the limit for the trial was 10kg.

Goods were successfully delivered to the 73m Lürssen built Megayacht M/Y CORAL OCEAN, which recently completed a €35 million rebuild.

Included in the package were a bottle of Dom Pérignon vintage 2008 Champagne, a 500g tin of Caviar by Azure Caviar, a Ralf Tec Watch and some perfume.

Andrew Maidment, managing director of Superyacht Supplies, said of the trial: “We are thrilled to showcase the potential of drone deliveries to superyachts, enabling swifter, more convenient, and environmentally conscious logistics for the maritime industry.”

Looking to the future, the advancement of drone technology could see drinks brands able to deliver the likes of a few cases of wine within minutes to customers up to 50km out to sea.

This isn’t the first example of drones and drinks uniting. Earlier this year, a drone display depicting a bottle of Bordeaux being poured into a glass amazed crowds at the city’s famous Wine Festival. Read more here.