Along with its partners Nordic Unmanned and the NORCE Research Institute AS, Schiebel is operating its Camcopter S-100 UAS to monitor ship emissions for French Maritime Authorities. Expected to run for three months, the operation began on Sept. 23. 

The service providers for this French deployment cover ship sulphur emission monitoring in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in the strait of Pas-de-Calais. Specifically, the Camcopter S-100 UAS measures the ships’ sulphur emissions to check compliance with the EU rules governing the sulphur content of marine fuels. Through the EMSA RPAS Data Centre, measurements are transmitted in real time to the relevant authorities.

“Due to its multi-payload capacity, the applications for the S-100 are limitless,” says Hans Georg Schiebel, chairman of the Schiebel Group.

“The sulphur sniffing capability is one of the latest innovations and we are very proud to play such an important role in enforcing marine fuel sulphur content regulations.”

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) offered the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service. As part of this contract, Schiebel provides a variety of maritime surveillance services for EMSA to several EU member states and EU bodies.

Schieble notes that the Camcopter S-100 is also currently operational in Denmark for emission monitoring purposes, as well as in Finland supporting coast guard functions. The French Navy is also operating the S-100 to conduct maritime surveillance.

With a flight endurance of more than six hours, the S-100 operates during the day and night. The UAS is equipped with an Explicit mini sniffer sensor system, an Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver.