EMSA deploys sniffer drone to monitor Gibraltar Strait emissions

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has deployed a remotely piloted aircraft in Gibraltar Strait to monitor sulphur and nitrogen emissions from passing ships and ensure compliance with regulations.

The collected data will be fed to the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda.

EMSA says the aircraft is equipped with an emission sensor and can analyse gas samples coming from the exhaust plume of a ship’s funnel.

This is the second emissions monitoring campaign in the Gibraltar Strait region.

“Emissions surveillance operations such as these will reinforce the recent approval of the Mediterranean Sea as an emission control area by the International Maritime Organization which is expected to come into force in 2025,” EMSA says.

EMSA also has sniffer drones flying to monitor emissions in German, French and Baltic waters, among other European countries.