The Port of Riga in Latvia announced it is working on 5G solution tests with LMT – a drone with artificial intelligence to determine pollution. The project uses a nascent drone traffic management platform being developed by LMT and Lufthansa Systems.
The Croatian authorities are using EMSA’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to boost their coast guard functions, as to monitor vessel traffic, conduct search and rescue procedures and detection and monitoring of marine pollution.
The US Navy took down an Iranian drone on July 18, after it refused to back down, as President Donald Trump informed. Namely, the USS Boxer destroyed the drone over the Strait of Hormuz, after the drone approached the ship within 1,000 yards. However, Iran stated that it does know about losing a drone. In fact, BBC reports that Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested the US may have downed its own drone by mistake.
The Port of Amsterdam announced a pilot project deploying a sailing drone that inspects the depth of marginal ships at the locks of IJmuiden, in a bid to gain experience in new technologies in nautical processes. The experiment is underway this week, 8-13 July.
Visual inspections and steel thickness measurements are vital for renewal surveys, and preparing vessels for these activities can be proven time-consuming as well as costly. For this reason, DNV GL Expert, Tomasz Oledzki, Head of Section FiS Poland, presents the benefits of using drones.
The Indian Ministry of Defence announced that the Indian Navy deployed two vessels in the Gulf of Oman to secure Indian flagged vessels, following the recent attack on two tankers in the region. The Ministry issued a statement noting that in addition to deploying the two vessels, Chennai and Sunayna, ‘aerial surveillance by IN aircraft is also being undertaken in the area.’
Amid a growing tension between the US and Iran in the light of the two tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman last week, Iranian forces now have reportedly shut down a US military surveillance drone while flying over the Strait of Hormuz.
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has announced new restrictions on commercial drone use in Antarctica. The Association decided that for the 2019-20 season, commercial drone flights are banned in coastal areas without the IAATO operator’s authorization.
The University of the Aegean start a series of tracking and quantifying plastic garbage in the sea, in 2018, called ‘Plastic Litter Project (PLP)’. The program aims to remotely locate, large quantities of plastics in the sea, aiming to remove them more efficiently.
A new project launched, aims to construct the world’s first fully autonomous robotic inspection solution, in favour of offshore wind farms. The project will cost $5 million, and the robots are expected to save the average of wind farm by about $33 million. In the meantime, it aspires to present the idea that offshore wind operations and maintenance missions can take place by autonomous and digital means.
