EMSA to Expand Sniffer Drone Use to Monitor Ship Emissions

by Julian Macqueen, Senior Editor, Ship & Bunker
Wednesday September 30, 2020

The use of sniffer drones to monitor emission levels from ships is establishing itself with the European Union (EU).

The mini-sniffer system being deployed off Pas-de-Calais in northern France comes from the Danish tech firm, Explicit.

Explicit has been working with drones to monitor emissions from ships in Danish waters for some time.

The Pas-de-Calais project follows from its link up with European Marine Safety Agency (EMSA) and is set to run for three months until the end of the year, Explicit's chief operating officer Bettina Knudsen told Ship & Bunker.

EMSA drones are also flying in Denmark over the Great Belt area.

Knudsen said that Explicit was involved in the Wedel campaign on the river Elbe.

"This was a shorter standalone campaign and part of an EU research project known as SCIPPER."

EMSA expects to expand its emissions monitoring fleet services and more drone campaigns are in the pipeline but timings are up in the air because of the pandemic, Knudsen added.