During much of this summer, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) have been flying investigative missions over the Straight of Gibraltar, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. What the air-sniffing drones have learned is about 10% of the passing vessels violate sulfur emission limits in force since last year.

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPAS) have been flown around Gibraltar under a program operated by Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to check the degree of compliance with the new restrictions. The tightened 2020 limits were introduced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to cut the considerable percentage that global cargo shipping contributes to climate change. 

The Spanish flights are the second campaign using European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) drones to detect vessels violating sulfur and dioxide emissions. The earlier trial, conducted by Lithuania, estimated that 2% to 3% of all ships entering the Baltic Sea did not…

More…

Source: dronedj.com