Vienna, 25 September 2024 . The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)  contracted Schiebel to support multi-purpose maritime operations with its  Unmanned Air System (UAS) CAMCOPTER® S-100 in La Manche and the  southern section of the North Sea.

The operation aimed to assist the maritime authorities of Belgium and France across a  variety of coast guard functions including emission monitoring. Stationed at the Gris Nez Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in the Pas-de-Calais Department  of France, the S-100 supported on request both participating countries within an  airspace validated by the civil aviation authority depending on the areas flown over.  The UAS provided enhanced support for maritime safety, search and rescue, maritime  surveillance, environmental protection and maritime accident and disaster response. 

The operationally mature S-100 executed these tasks equipped with multiple sensors,  a Trakka TC-300 EO/IR sensor, an Explicit Mini Sniffer for emission monitoring, a  Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator, an Automatic Identification  System (AIS) receiver and a Mode-S Transponder ADSB out. 

“We have been supporting EMSA since 2018. The CAMCOPTER® also helped in  several search and rescue operations. The S-100 saves valuable response time and  enables a quick and efficient way of scanning large areas even for very small objects  and anomalies at sea,” said Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group.