The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has chosen the TEKEVER AR5 to “create the first European maritime surveillance and environmental monitoring system based on drones.” TEKEVER announced the 2-year, 77 million Euro (about $85 million) contracts during the Paris Air Show yesterday. The contracts are part of a larger program to provide the EU Coastguard and environmental protection activities with drone technology.
Tekever collaborated with French-based maritime surveillance experts CLS on the offering. CLS specializes in gathering maritime data and providing intelligence; they join Tekever to provide an end-to-end solution. The TEKEVER AR5 UAS is a system “designed for long-range maritime surveillance and pollution monitoring missions, equipped with a comprehensive set of sensors in a fully integrated payload.”
“Following a request to EMSA by a EU Member State, our consortium will provide a complete, turnkey, fully operational service for conducting maritime surveillance and environmental monitoring missions. This revolutionary service provided by EMSA is having a profound impact on the market and raising a very high interest in many countries throughout Europe”, said Ricardo Mendes, General Manager of TEKEVER Autonomous Systems.
“CLS has been providing satellite based services to EMSA for many years, and we now have the opportunity to complement these services with a drone-based capability. We’ll provide the backend for the service, and deploy expert staff to support multiple types of missions, including pollution detection – an area in which CLS has over 30 years of experience”, said Gaetan Fabritius, Head of Maritime Surveillance at CLS.
Operations are expected to begin over the next couple of months.
“The UAS operations can be performed in any sea area surrounding the EU or an EFTA country, or even be extended outside EU adjacent seas upon common agreement and on request by the European Commission,” says the announcement. “With this new capability, EMSA will complement EU Member State action in the fields of oil spill detection, maritime surveillance and the monitoring of air emissions from ships.”
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
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[…] 2017, TEKEVER snagged an $85 million contract from the European Maritime Security Company to “create the primary European maritime surveillance […]