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The Romanian border authorities are using drones to monitor the Black Sea coastal area under a project fully funded by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Romania's Border Police Inspectorate General (IGPF) reported on Monday
"The Romanian Border Police uses the RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System), a remote piloting system for small aircraft, for the multifunctional surveillance of the Black Sea coastal area. This project, started in August 2020, it is provided for and fully funded by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)," reads the release.
According to IGPF, this new and modern concept is an integrated one that consists of the operation aboard the Stefan cel Mare ship of the Romanian Border Police of a small drone, UAS type (Unmanned Aerial System), with day and night shooting capabilities by special pilots from Nordic Unmanned.
"Thus, the data collected from the flights are transmitted, in real time, to the users, through the RPAS Data Center of the European Maritime Safety Agency, with the aid of a satellite communications system, customised for this purpose," IGPF says.
The flights take place in Romania's Black Sea jurisdiction and are used for several purposes, including, according to IGPF, for "surveillance of the maritime border, prevention and control of illegal migration, control and monitoring of fishing activities, identifying ship pollution, monitoring protected areas and searching for missing persons."
IGPF says that the current operation is running until the end of this year, but the Romanian Border Police wants to extend the service to 2021, given "good inter-institutional co-operation and operational benefits demonstrated so far."
