Abstract Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become indispensable for addressing operational challenges in hazardous or inaccessible environments, contributing to resilience and efficiency in the maritime port sector. This study integrates a systematic literature review of 33 academic articles with insights from semi-structured interviews with industry experts to explore UAV applications in port operations. The findings demonstrate strong alignment regarding UAVs' capacity to improve real-time monitoring and data collection for resilience-based management, particularly in infrastructure inspection and environmental sustainability. Crucially, however, the analysis reveals that contrary to narratives of full automation, industry experts view UAVs primarily as decision-support tools that enhance human situational awareness rather than as replacements for operational workflows. Furthermore, significant divergences were identified between theoretical research and implementation realities: while academia often emphasizes technical feasibility, practitioners highlight regulatory frameworks and organizational readiness as the primary barriers to adoption. By bridging these perspectives, this study provides a roadmap for port authorities and policymakers to optimize UAV utilization, emphasizing that value creation depends on integrating UAV data into existing management systems to streamline decision-making and enhance overall port performance.
Lima et al. (Mon,) studied this question.