The world is nearly three quarters covered by water, with the oceans representing the world’s single largest ecosystem. Almost 90 percent of everything we buy arrives via ship and at any point in time there is an average of 55,000 merchant ships at sea, carrying in excess of 20 million containers across the oceans.
Consider too that 64% of the total surface area of the ocean is beyond the jurisdiction of any state, so governance is woefully inadequate and on the high seas anarchy is rife. With respect to high seas fisheries, nearly 10 million tonnes of fish are caught annually on the high seas with an increasing proportion of it being caught illegally.
Quite apart from the habitat destruction, biodiversity loss and ocean acidification, maritime security – whether it relates to food, energy exploitation, merchant trade protection or illegal trafficking of people or drugs – has become a major sovereign protection focus for all countries with a coastline.
We are keen to help contribute to the surveillance of the oceans from inshore ports and harbours, through national EEZ’s to the millions of square kilometres of ungoverned waters beyond. Our capabilities include monitoring of marine pollution such as oil slicks and spills, detecting the illegal dumping of oil by ships, monitoring ship routes and port traffic.
Telespazio VEGA UK and e-GEOS have considerable combined experience and their proprietary technology provides a well-trodden and robust modular Maritime Surveillance Platform – Read more about Smart Eyes on the Seas (SEonSE)