The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has extended the contract for Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100 UAS to the end of the year after two months of successful maritime surveillance services for the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia.

Based on the Croatian island of Brač, EMSA’s Camcopter S-100 performs regular day and night patrolling flights, on-demand incident monitoring missions and specific inspection operations.

Thus far, the UAS, which is equipped with Harris L3 Wescam Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch payload and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver, has completed 67 missions and 210 flight hours during two months of maritime operations. 

“We’re thrilled that EMSA extended the contract to the end of the year,” says Hans Georg Schiebel, chairman of the Schiebel Group.

“With its extensive experience in the maritime sector and more than 100,000 flight hours around the world, our Camcopter S-100 is a reliable and proven Vertical Takeoff and Landing UAS.”

Back in Nov. 2018, Schiebel was awarded a multi-year maritime surveillance contract for a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service. Through this contract, Schiebel provides simultaneous maritime surveillance services to several European Union (EU) member states and EU bodies.