Camcopter S-100 for EMSA: Schiebel supported coastguard over the English Channel and North Sea

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) contracted Schiebel to operate the Camcopter S-100. Over the English Channel and the southern North Sea, the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) assisted Belgian and French maritime authorities with a wide range of coastguard tasks, including emissions monitoring.

The base was the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Gris-Nez (Pas-de-Calais department). Both countries could request the S-100; flights took place in airspace validated by the civil aviation authority depending on the area. The UAS contributed to maritime safety, search and rescue, maritime surveillance and environmental protection, and assisted with maritime accidents and disasters.

Sensor suite of the Camcopter S-100

For this, the operational S-100 carried several sensors: a Trakka TC-300 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor, an Explicit Mini Sniffer for emissions monitoring, a Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver and a Mode-S transponder with ADS-B out.

Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, recalls: “We have been supporting EMSA since 2018”. He adds: “The Camcopter has also assisted in several search and rescue missions, saving valuable response time and enabling fast and efficient scanning of large areas, even for very small objects and anomalies at sea.”