Training the next generation of terminal operators
Together with Dedicated Drones, we are training the new generation of terminal personnel in the Port of Rotterdam to become certified Asset Intelligence operators, making tank inspections safer and the profession more accessible to a new generation of terminal operators.
Co-financed by the European Union – JTF Programme 2025–2028, Groot-Rijnmond
The challenge
Inspecting oil and gas storage tanks in the Port Industrial Complex is physically demanding and carries real safety risks. Tanks up to 23 metres tall have to be climbed in all weather conditions and the sector is struggling to attract and retain qualified operators.
Our Solution
Falcker has developed an Asset Intelligence inspection system that lets terminal operators monitor and inspect tanks remotely, without having to climb them. Flying the required inspection technology takes specialist skills that today’s operators don’t yet have. Digital Operator is the training programme that closes that gap.
The new generation operators will be trained to work with Falcker’s drone-in-a-box system: a self-flying inspection unit that takes off autonomously from a docking station, flies pre-planned inspection routes and returns on its own to recharge. No on-site pilot is needed. Instead, the trained operator monitors and controls the system remotely.
Through this project, current and future terminal staff are trained to:
– Monitor and plan automated inspection routes for drone-in-a-box systems
– Interpret inspection footage and thermal imagery
– Identify risks and take appropriate action
What the project delivers
- An Operations Manual (OM) and site-specific Concepts of Operations, aligned with ILT and EASA requirements
- A complete theory and practical training programme for 32 operators
- Recurrent training to keep skills and documentation up to date with evolving regulation
- A Safety Management System and preventive maintenance programme for the inspection hardware
- A labour-market campaign to attract new talent, including young people and women, to the profession
Falcker Innovations B.V. (Delft) (lead applicant). Developer of the Asset Intelligence inspection system used in this project.
Dedicated Drones (Delft) training partner, holder of the highest-level Dutch flight operational authorisation (NLD-OA-100/01G and NLD-OA-102/01G).
This project is co-financed by the European Union through the Just Transition Fund (JTF). Within the Kansen voor West 2025–2028 programme, region Groot-Rijnmond.
