Schiebel's EMSA contract extended

Schiebel’s contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has been extended to the end of 2019, the company announced on 11 November.

Under the EMSA contract, a Camcopter S-100 based on the Croatian island of Brač carries out regular day and night patrol flights, on-demand incident monitoring missions and specific inspection operations for the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia.

The extension comes after a successful two months of maritime operations with 67 missions and 210 flight hours conducted to date. The S-100 is equipped with a Harris L3 Wescam EO/IR camera, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch payload and an automatic identification system receiver.

Schiebel received the contract for VTOL UAS services in November 2018, which covers simultaneous maritime surveillance services to several EU member states and EU bodies.

Hans Georg Schiebel, chairman of the Schiebel Group, said: ‘We’re thrilled that EMSA extended the contract to the end of the year. With its extensive experience in the maritime sector and more than 100,000 flight hours around the world, our Camcopter S-100 is a reliable and proven VTOL UAS.’