7. CONSTRUCCIÓN NUEVA
7.3. SALA DE EXPANSIÓN SALA CUNA 3
In the field of maritime security, the European Sixth Research Framework Programme and Seventh Research Framework Programme contributed in funding the transition of some research projects from pre-operational services to Copernicus operational services. This is the typical case of business-to-government or government-to-government services. Some examples of downstream services and products offered by European companies are:
Vessel traffic monitoring: SafeSeaNet55 is a vessel traffic monitoring and information system established to enhance maritime safety, port and maritime security, marine environment protection, and efficiency of maritime traffic and maritime transport (see Figure 10). The system uses the AIS messages transmitted by ships and has been developed and implemented under the leadership of the European Commission (Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport – DG MOVE).56
Monitoring sea borders: Maritime Security Services (MARISS)57 delivers services that address maritime security in Northern and Western Atlantic waters, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean waters. The service is aimed to enhance capabilities of institutional users58 to track vessels back and forward at sea borders and identify them as friends or suspects using Copernicus satellite imagery and AIS information.
Monitoring of oil spills: CleanSeaNet59 is a European satellite-based oil spill and vessel detection service, offering assistance to participating states in identifying and tracing oil pollution on the sea surface, monitoring accidental pollution during emergencies, and contributing to the identification of polluters. The service is based on the Canadian Space Agency’s RADARSAT-2 and the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed satellite images, and also on SafeSeaNet for vessel identification60 (see Figure 11).
55 European Maritime Safety Agency website (http://www.emsa.europa.eu/).
56 Participating Countries are Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic are only data requester.
57 http://spatial.e-geos.it/mariss-gmes/index.html.
58 They include: Spanish Guardia Civil, Spanish Navy, French Navy, UK Royal Navy, Norwegian Coastal Administration, Finnish Navy, Italian Coast Guard, Hellenic Coast Guard, Portuguese Navy, Bundespolizei, Ports of Azores, and Ports of Madeira. Service providers include GMV for South Spanish Coast, ASTRIUM/CLS for Caribbean geographic area, Qinetiq for Western Atlantic, KSAT for Norwegian and Baltic Sea, DLR for the North Baltic sea, e-GEOS and Space Hellas for the Mediterranean area, Edisoft and Skysoft for the Portuguese area. 59 http://www.emsa.europa.eu/operations/cleanseanet/items.html?cid=122&id=2360.
Figure 10: SafeSeaNet AIS-based vessel monitoring system
Source: European Maritime Safety Agency (http://www.emsa.europa.eu/images/stories/comm/SSN-pic1.jpg).
Figure 11: CleanSeaNet satellite-based oil spill monitoring service based on the Canadian and the Italian radar satellites
Example of commercial downstream services
Some examples of commercial AIS-based downstream services and products offered by European companies for marine private traffic control are:
Vessel monitoring: LUXspace61 belongs to the international network of companies within the OHB SE group62 and is located in Luxembourg. Since 2009, LUXspace offers global AIS data services (both terrestrial and satellite data) to institutional and commercial customers worldwide. Their key clients are institutional users in Europe, such as the European Maritime Safety Agency, European Fishery Control Agency, Frontex, national marine forces but also a number of commercial customers in the maritime sector. Figure 12 shows an example of global vessel mapping.
Fleet management: TerraMar Networks63 is an Irish provider of GNSS fleet management services. Their expertise spans a variety of industry sectors, including logistics and haulage, commercial maritime and offshore oil and gas. For its services, TerraMar Networks uses a mixture of GSM cellular networks, geostationary satellites, low Earth orbit satellites and both terrestrial and satellite AIS systems.
Tracking services: Astra Paging Ltd64 is a private limited liability company of Bulgaria, mainly focused on software development. It is one of the large international providers of AIS vessel tracking services, and its service operates the largest commercial AIS network in South Europe, processing data received from over 85,000 ships. Astra Paging customers are ship owners, managers, port operators, charterers, ship chandlers and insurance agents. Moreover, government agencies such as the Bulgarian Maritime Administration, Bulgarian Navy, or Border Police are also customers (see in Figure 13 an example of app for smartphones).
61 http://www.luxspace.lu/index.php.
62 The European company for Space Technology & Security, Telematics and Satellite Services (http://www.ohb.de/index-english.html).
63 http://www.terramarnetworks.com/. 64 http://www.astrapaging.com/.
Figure 12: Global vessel monitoring using AIS data
Source: LUXspace (http://www.luxspace.lu/index.php/global-ais-dataservice.html).
Figure 13: VT Explorer app for smartphones
Source: Astra Paging Ltd (http://www.vtexplorer.com/vt-explorer-for-android.html).
Market opportunities and threats
Terrestrial-based AIS networks provide real-time tracking of ships at several thousands of ports and coastal shipping routes worldwide. However, this technology is limited to coastal waters where the AIS signal can be recorded. Satellite-based AIS is a quickly developing technology for extending the monitoring of vessels tracks beyond coastal regions and every year several new AIS satellites are launched by private companies. The combination of satellite-based and terrestrial-based AIS, integrated with GNSS, GSM and satellite cellular
In the European context, the directive 2002/59/CE, related to the creation of a common monitoring and informative system of naval traffic, determined a boost of the downstream market by making the AIS instruments mandatory on vessels with a gross tonnage more than 300 tons, except for war ships, fishing ships and pleasure crafts with a size smaller than 45 meters (European Union, 2002). Although commercial services for vessel tracking typically do not use Earth observation data, they however use GNSS data. Consequently, such kind of services will benefit from the availability of the Galileo and EGNOS systems. The main limitation is the actual lack of AIS payloads in the Copernicus programme, even if the Norwegian Space Centre (an ESA Member State) has two dedicated missions. Thus, satellite-based AIS tracking services today offered by European companies rely on third-parties or private satellites. In the future some satellite AIS systems may became Copernicus contributing missions, or AIS instruments may be installed as additional payload on future European satellite missions. However there are currently no programmes going in that direction.
Finally, it is to be mentioned that, even if European private companies sell their services to corporate customers, governmental agencies and public authorities are still important clients for the downstream market of maritime security.