EMSA's perspective on RPAS/UAV Maritime Surveillance services 3rd Workshop on European Unmanned Maritime Systems; Porto, 29 May 2014 Leendert Bal Head of Department Operations Location and Information Sharing Systems Willem de Ruiter 03/03/2010

Technical and operational support ~240 staff, 24 nationalities Regulatory Agency of the European Union 10 years in existence Own legal identity Technical and operational support ~240 staff, 24 nationalities ~80 staff in Operations Department Annual overall budget: ~50 million Euros HQ Lisbon, Portugal Post-Prestige (2004: New tasks include pollution response) Location and Information Sharing Systems Willem de Ruiter 03/03/2010

EMSA’s growing role in Maritime Surveillance based on maritime information systems Ship reporting services: - SafeSeaNet (short range monitoring – terrestrial stations) - Satellite-AIS (long range monitoring together with ESA) - LRIT (Long Range Identification and Tracking) Earth observation service: - CleanSeaNet (oil spill monitoring and vessel detection) - Copernicus Maritime Surveillance Services as of 2015 Integrated Maritime Services (data fusion/correlation) 4 Location and Information Sharing Systems Willem de Ruiter 03/03/2010 4

New developments: Enlarged legal mandate: By providing, …, relevant vessel positioning and earth observation data to the competent national authorities and relevant EU bodies … in order to facilitate measures against threats of piracy and of intentional unlawful acts … Institutional Service Provider of “maritime picture” to other EU bodies: EFCA, FRONTEX, EU NAVFOR Location and Information Sharing Systems Willem de Ruiter 03/03/2010

Current constraints to use RPAS as part of operations: Negative public/political perception: Intrusive, aggressive Costly Operational constraints: Use in non-segregated airspace not regulated, no EU certification, ATC for cross-border use? Limited operational experience in civil domain. 7

Scanning for oil spills… Oil spill found! Vessel detected! Monitoring offshore platforms…. Searching for vessel in distress…. Offshore gas plume monitored!

Serving different applications/purposes: Maritime Pollution Monitoring Supporting Search and Rescue Operations Monitoring accidents with Oil and Gas installations Supporting law enforcement activities (fishery control, customs, anti-drug trafficking, border control) Supporting Anti-piracy Safety of Navigation: Iceberg and Ice boundary monitoring 9

RPAS: Operational Added Value To be integrated in surveillance chain: used in combination with satellites and MPA, More flexible than orbiting satellite Small boat detection capability Less sensors than surveillance aircraft but lower operating costs Emissions monitoring: safer in situations with gas and/or explosion danger Suitable for routine monitoring and event related action (pinpointing) At-sea operation relatively safe Small number of RPAS at strategic positions to assist EU Member States is a cost effective solution

Conclusions Clear maritime surveillance business case for RPAS At-sea operation is straightforward and relatively safe General public acceptance is an issue, also at EU level Regulatory framework is required soon in order to be able to offer operational services – Commission Communication: >2016 Operational experience will grow quickly with on-going trials and projects: fine-tuning for right operational mix (sensors and endurance) is on-going RPAS is interesting new data source RPAS data is tested to be embedded in EMSA applications 11

© Portuguese Air Force