Unit Coast Guard and International Programmes
Ref. Ares(2019)7489400 - 05/12/2019
Assessment of the RPAS operations deployed from on board OPV
Lundy Sentinel in terms of the added value for fisheries inspection and
control
1. Background
The European Fisheries Control Agency requested in May 20191 the service to the European
Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) of a Vertical Take-Off and Landing lightweight Remotely
Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) to be deployed from on board the EFCA chartered Offshore
Patrol Vessel Lundy Sentinel. The request was for an initial experience of operating an RPAS
from the chartered OPV for fisheries control purposes, in particular this RPAS would be used
as a complementary fisheries control tool such as to have an initial pre-boarding assessment
for fisheries inspectors (before boarding a fishing vessel) and to check certain fisheries control
measures remotely. An initial assessment of the viability to deploy the RPAS from on board the
EFCA chartered OPV was made with a positive outcome2 and a satellite communication
(service provided also by EMSA) was also established for streaming in real time to the EFCA
Coordination Centre.
2. Objective
The objective of this document is to make an operational assessment on the RPAS service
deployed during the period of deployment between the 1 September and the 30 November
2019, in view of future contracting of the service. The assessment covers:
-
The practical aspects of deploying the RPAS from on board OPV Lundy Sentinel using (e.g.
tasks on board for the EFCA Liaison Officer on Board (LOB), Operational Procedures);
-
Operational added value for fisheries control of using RPAS from board of OPV Lundy
Sentinel (with the current RPAS or with RPAS having higher endurance);
-
Possible improvements that could substantially enhance the service.
1 Ref. Ares(2019)3137186 - 13/05/2019
2 Nordic Unmanned - EMSA OP12 Indago Site visit onboard “Lundy Sentinel”
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3. RPAS main technical specifications
The main technical specification of the RPAS used were the following:
Weight: 2300g
Battery powered quadcopter with an endurance of about 35 minutes
Max range: 5 Nm (9 km) legal and technical max range
Max working range from target: 2,5 Nm (4,5 km)
Maximum Altitude: legally limited to 120 m
Maximum Speed: 30 kts or 56 km/h
Camera 1: optical camera: 4 x digital zoom
infra Red Camera: 8 x digital zoom
Camera 2: optical camera: 30 x optical zoom
The drone needs to be operated within visual or radio line of sight from the operator without
any objects being in between them.
The full technical specifications are available in the technical fiche of EMSA.
4.
Summary of operational activity
Patrol
Dates
Geographical
Number of RPAS
Number of boardings
Area
flights
Patrol
1 – 14 Sep 19
Central Med
5 surveillance flights
2 flights combined with boarding
17
9 test/training flights
3 boardings without flight
Totals 14 flights
Total 5 boardings
Patrol
16 – 29 Sep 19
Central Med /
9 surveillance flights
No flights combined with
18
Adriatic Sea
1 test/training flights
boarding
Totals 10 flights
16 boardings without flight
Total 16 boardings
Patrol
01 – 13 Oct 19
Central Med /
13 surveillance flights
7 flights combined with boarding
19
Adriatic Sea
6 test/training flights
4 boardings without flight
Totals 19 flights
Total 11 boardings
Patrol
15 – 29 Oct 19
Western Med
9 surveillance flights
9 flights combined with boarding
20
North Atlantic
1 test/training flights
3 boardings without flight
Totals 10 flights
Total 12 boardings
Patrol
31 Oct – 20 Nov 19
North Atlantic
4 surveillance flights
1 flight combined with boarding
21
Gulf of Biscay
1 test/training flights
4 boardings without flight
North Sea
Totals 5 flights
Total 5 boardings
Patrol
22 Nov – 04 Dec 19 Baltic Sea
8 surveillance flights
6 flights combined with boarding
22
1 test/training flights
4 boardings without flight
Totals 9 flights
Total 10 boardings
Important to note: The meteorological limits to fly the RPAS are in general: wind of max - 4 Bft
and sea state 4, these are usually also the limitations to perform boarding boat operations.
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5. Operational assessment of deploying the RPAS from on board OPV Lundy Sentinel
Positive aspects:
The additional workload for operating the RPAS is not seen as a heavy extra burden for
LOBs. From a user point of view it takes little skills to operate the system by giving
instructions to the pilot on what part of the fishery operation the LOB wants to observe.
The footage is of a very good quality and useful.
It can be used to survey the BFT fishery, especially the cages.
The light weight RPAS has a legal capacity to fly up to 5 Nm without any prior requests,
based on the Norwegian licence.
There is only one external operator required to operate the drone, the logistics is very basic
(some bags) and the operational and storage space are very limited.
The impact of the RPAS on the ship exploitation is limited.
There is a possibility to stream the images live via the EMSA SatCom system to any
stakeholder.
When not known of its presence it is difficult for the target to detect the RPAS when in
operation.
Aspects for improvement:
The current endurance of the RPAS is limited.
A concern was raised that if the workload is very high during the patrol, this might interfere
in the conduct of the inspections. However, it is important to underline that the RPAS is a
tool to be used if useful for the LOB and inspection team.
The operational distance is seen as low. One LOB proposes a flight distance of at least 10
Nm.
The use in adverse weather is limited, wind force 4 Bft and sea state 4.
The video does not provide information regarding date, time and the target position or the
distance from the RPAS. However this can be added in an overlay to the footage.
6. Added value for fisheries inspection and control
The use of RPAS in the fisheries control operations is considered to provide an added value.
Some examples of practical cases and possible use of RPAS are provided below:
Fishing restricted area: A vessel was detected inside a fishing restricted area for some time
and left the area once Lundy Sentinel approached. The RPAS was used to see that the
catch was being sorted on board after the fishing vessel left the area. This was a clear
indication that the vessel was fishing in the restricted area.
RPAS used to watch a fishing vessel with the crew sorting the catch and using fish as bite
to possibly catch tuna. Discarding fish – possibly to attract tuna. RPAS and good quality of
images allowed to have a clear view of what was happening on board.
RPAS is used to accompany through live stream remotely the inspection team while the
inspection team is on board a fishing vessel.
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One LOB considered that the RPAS may be useful for maritime surveillance to detect
fishing vessels not transmitting AIS/VMS in order to identify the targets and to obtain the
information necessary to call the fishing vessel by radio (especially e.g. when the fishing
vessel is at a distance not possible to see with the binocular or when the unidentified fishing
vessel is trying to move away from the EFCA chartered OPV. The current RPAS does not
have sufficient endurance to allow this.
The RPAS is a good pre-inspection tool to keep the target vessel under surveillance after
informing them they will be inspected
Suggestions to improve:
A more performant RPAS to be able to fly further from the vessel and to operate longer and in
worse weather should be a great advantage. It would be beneficial if the maximum legal
distance to operate should coincide with the maximum operational distance and endurance.
The legal distance to operate from the mother vessel according to the Norwegian license in
International waters which is 5 Nm. The endurance should be one hour or more.
Other important considerations:
All data is subject to data protection and should not be disseminated to anybody nor kept
for personnel purposes.
Procedures to exchange data with the Member States are being developed.
7. General conclusion and proposed way forward
EFCA should continue testing a new and promising technology for fisheries inspection and it is
proposed to continue with the RPAS on board of Lundy Sentinel during 2020. A more powerful
drone with higher endurance would even enhance this new operational capacity considerably.
The data protection rules should be further developed and documented in procedures.
There is a role to be tested for the current RPAS, but preferable updated RPAS, during the
next Bluefin Tuna campaign.
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