Drones are routinely being used for anti-pollution missions off the coast of Europe to 鈥渟niff鈥� the exhaust fumes from ships and catch operators using illegal fuel.
At the start of last year, the UN鈥檚 introduced new legislation to reduce the limit on the percentage of sulphur in fuel used by ships from 3.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Certain congested areas, such as the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, have special limits of 0.1 per cent. Sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships have been found to be a factor in cardiovascular and lung disease and can lead to acid rain.
In a recent operation off the coast of Gibraltar, 294 ships were analysed by drone patrols carried out by the EU鈥檚 European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). Some 27 of the ships were found to be in breach of emissions levels. Drone operators are still carrying out two daily flights near Gibraltar with an average of 10 inspections per day, and other missions around Europe are ongoing.
Advertisement
The Camcopter S-100 drones used in the patrols 鈥� 鈥� can travel at up to 240 kilometres per hour and reach altitudes of 5500 metres. The 200-kilogram machines, constructed with a carbon fibre skin and 3D-printed titanium parts, are more than three metres long and can operate remotely at distances of up to 200 kilometres. They can also remain in continuous flight for six hours, which is three times longer than a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter.
The drones were used in Malta between 2013 and 2015 at the peak of the refugee crisis and helped locate 30,000 people making risky crossings and coordinate their rescue, Schiebel claims. But in 2018, EMSA contracted a fleet of the same drones for emissions monitoring.
The devices are fitted with gas sensors and cameras covering optical and infrared ranges to better detect vessel exhaust plumes. One detector measures sulphur oxide and one measures carbon dioxide, and this information can be used to accurately estimate the concentration of sulphur in the fuel being burned. These measurements are sent to the proper authorities in real time.
Currently, the remote measurements alone aren鈥檛 admissible as proof for EMSA to fine those in breach, but the organisation can simply instruct staff to test fuel directly once a ship suspected to be breaking emissions enters its destination port.
Drone operators are given targets by EMSA and fly out to the ship鈥檚 location using the automatic identification system installed on all ships to guide them. Although the drones are able to take off, fly missions and land fully autonomously, current missions are overseen by humans due to the close proximity of flights to shipping.
鈥淲e fly there and do the sniffing,鈥� says Lubos Sramek at Schiebel. 鈥淲e approach the vessel from the rear, do the measurement and, after a few minutes, we can fly to check another vessel. It鈥檚 definitely much more cost effective than if you were to do that with manned helicopters.鈥�
EMSA was unavailable for interview.
Sramek says that, in most cases, the crew members of a vessel will be totally unaware that they are being tested, despite the drone hovering just metres above and behind the ship. The noise is comparable to a motorbike, he says, and easily drowned out by noise aboard a ship.
But he warns that there could still be 鈥渢ricks鈥� being used by ship operators that the inadmissibility of drone evidence leaves open, such as having two fuel tanks and burning cheaper but illegal and dirtier fuel at sea, leaving only compliant fuel for testing in port.
