Romanian national authorities use an EMSA RPAS aircraft to fly over the Black Sea region from a base in Mangalia. The flights offer improved maritime surveillance to the Border Police, the Naval Authority, as well as the National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture. The daily monitoring provided by the remotely piloted aircraft is particularly useful for the implementation of coastguard functions, where obtaining a clear picture of what is happening at sea contributes to an efficient and effective response.
The request for this service was made by the Romanian Border Police following the successful operations in 2021, and the service is expected to run until the end of the summer. The flights will increase surveillance in the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of Romania for multiple purposes, including general maritime safety, such as ship traffic management, ship and port security, pollution detection, accident and disaster response, and inspection and control of fishing. The RPAS aircraft used is an unmanned drone helicopter, with a flight duration of six hours and a range of over 100 km. It is supplied via the EMSA contractor, Schiebel Aircraft GmbH. The aircraft - Camcopter S100 - is also equipped with an optical and infrared camera, as well as an AIS receiver and an automated maritime search sensor capable of detecting objects on the sea surface. Thanks to the dedicated EMSA RPAS Data Center platform, end-users of the service can communicate with each other and respond to flight data shared with them in real time. In this way, depending on the different roles and responsibilities, the authorities can take over and act on any activity at sea that could be considered harmful, dangerous or illegal in a precise and well-coordinated way.
ABOUT EMSA
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is a decentralized agency of the European Union (EU), based in Lisbon, Portugal. EMSA serves the EU's maritime interests for a safe, environmentally friendly and competitive maritime sector, providing value to Member States through support for pollution prevention and response, maritime surveillance, safety and security, digitization and provision of integrated maritime services, and technical assistance.
EMP (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) services are provided free of charge to all EU member states by EMSA. These services have been developed to help with maritime surveillance and ship monitoring, and can operate in all seas around the European Union. RPAS services can provide support for traditional coastguard functions, including search and rescue and pollution prevention and response. The services are provided to member countries individually and as part of EMSA's regional RPAS strategy, which allows multiple coastguard functions in several EU countries to be supported by one or more RPAS services. See where EMSA flies.
For more information, please contact: information@emsa.europa.eu
