A drone controlled by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in an operation for the Spanish authorities has detected 27 vessels which were in possible breach of the limits on the sulphur content of their fuel.
EMSA said its remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) looked at 294 vessels in the period from 12 July.
The authority said the measurements and records taken are then automatically encoded in the information exchange system which triggers an alert in the EMSA THETIS-EU database — an extension of the port state control data.
“While this does not confirm non-compliance directly, it does help port authorities target ships for inspection and proceed with the lab testing necessary for any eventual sanctions,” EMSA said.
The operation was carried out by the Spanish General Directorate of Merchant Marine under the direction of the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA).
Southern Europe first
Lisbon-headquartered EMSA said it marks the first time these emissions have been monitored by drone outside the special designated emission control areas in Northern Europe.
The RPAS has been carrying out two flights daily from a base in Tarifa in southern Spain with an average of ten inspections per day.
They will continue until the end of October.
EMSA, which was an early adopter of drones for maritime use, said the project is designed to test the effectiveness of drones in measuring pollutant emissions
It was set up by MITMA in collaboration with the Algeciras Maritime Captaincy and the General Directorate of Merchant Marine.
The goal is to detect sulphur oxide emissions above a certain level indicating a possible breach of the International Convention on Maritime Pollution (Marpol Annex VI), EMSA said. The current limit for sulphur oxide in ship fuels is 0.50% by mass.
The RPAS used is a CAMCOPTER S100, which is under contract to EMSA from the consortium of Nordic Unmanned, Norce and UMS Skeldar.
It is able to take off and land vertically from an area less than 25 square meters, has a flight endurance of over six hours and a range of more than 100 km.
The drone is fitted with gas sensors and cameras which cover both optical and infrared spectral ranges to help it detect the gases generated by fuel combustion and expelled through ship funnels.
EMSA said it offers RPAS services free to all European Union member states to assist in maritime surveillance operations, ship emission monitoring and to support traditional coast guard functions, including search and rescue and pollution prevention and response.
