Aircrafts over the Baltic Sea to monitor marine pollution
The Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA) informs that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is conducting a mission of remotely piloted aircraft in Lithuania to monitor passing ship pollution. During the mission, unmanned aerial vehicles are measuring pollutant emissions from ships passing through Klaipėda Seaport and the main shipping lanes. It monitors the sulphur content of fuel used by ships. The sulphur content of marine fuel in Baltic Sea which is part of Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) should be no greater than 0.1%. The mission will last three months.
The aircraft being used for this service is the Schiebel CAMCOPTER® S100. The model is a vertical take-off and landing drone and is fitted with gas sensors and cameras covering optical and infrared spectral ranges to better detect vessel plumes and conduct maritime surveillance as required.
All the information is transmitted in real-time to trained users through EMSA’s RPAS Data Centre. Records of the emission measurements are encoded automatically into the THETIS-EU information sharing system. This system is operated by EMSA to assist in the enforcement of the EU sulphur directive as well as to support port inspectors when targeting vessels to be inspected.
Last updated: 20-07-2022
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