Martek Marine (Martek) has been awarded a ground breaking 2-year Remotely Piloted Aircraft Services (RPAS) contract from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The services offered will fulfil part of the world’s largest ever maritime drone contract.
Part of a five-year EMSA strategy of improving coast guard monitoring and surveillance of maritime activity valued at EUR 67 million, the service provision from Martek not only includes the RPAS, commonly known as drones, but also the pilots, long-range antennae, mission control vehicles and ground crew. Video and drone sensor data will be streamed live to a control centre, to allow EU Member States to make prompt decisions on intervention actions.
RPAS will be used to perform beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations and will assist with (a) border control activities, (b) search & rescue operations, (d) monitoring of pollution, and (e) detection of illegal fishing, and (f) detection of drug and people trafficking.
A typical surveillance task involves the deployment of a drone from the deck of a ship to a specified area of interest. The drone then collects requested surveillance information before sending it, in addition to payload data, to the users.
The chosen specification of drones under the EMSA contract are of compact design, making them extremely maneuverable in addition to having the ability to start and land vertically from both shore and vessels. Focusing on short-range operations, the drones will be equipped with the latest sensors designed for maritime surveillance. To operate effectively in the harsh maritime environment, the technology has been developed to withstand storm force wind and heavy rain, snow and salt spray.
Martek Group’s CEO, Paul Luen, says: “This contract sets us up for major expansion as THE maritime drone experts. More world firsts will be delivered by us in this exciting technology field during 2017, as we launch further disruptive drone services.”
Martek’s continued contractual success follows the company being awarded a previous €10M contract by EMSA for ship engine emission monitoring using RPAS in November 2016. Martek‘s sister company, COPTRZ, provided consultancy on both contracts.
Paul Luen, Mike Pringle and Steve Coulson formed Martek Marine to offer pioneering solutions to improve safety, performance & welfare on ships. Martek Marine is now a global business supplying services to over 80 countries. It has grown to be the current world leader in marine engine emissions analysis systems.
In response to customer demand in 2015, the company established its Martek Drones division to bring this new technology to the marine market.
The Martek Marine product range is extensive and now includes the recently launched total maritime telemedicine solution, iVital™. Martek Marine’s accreditations include ISO 9001; Investors in People (Gold); The Institute of Customer Service; Queen’s Awards for Industry; and Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
Visit www.martek-marine.com for more information on the maritime drone and telemedicine solution.