Article

Revolutionizing Ocean Cleanup: A Portuguese Case Study with Unmanned Vehicles Fighting Spills

Environments

Nuno Pessanha Santos; Ricardo Moura; Victor Lobo — 2024 — MDPI

Key information

Authors:

Nuno Pessanha Santos (Nuno Alexandre Antunes Martins Pessanha Santos); Ricardo Moura; Teresa Lourenço Antunes; Victor Lobo

Published in

10/13/2024

Abstract

It is of the utmost importance for every country to monitor and control maritime pollution within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has developed and implemented the CleanSeaNet (CSN) satellite monitoring system to aid in the surveillance and control of hydrocarbon and hazardous substance spills in the ocean. This system’s primary objective is to alert European Union (EU) coastal states to potential spills within their EEZs, enabling them to take the necessary legal and operational actions. To reduce operational costs and increase response capability, the feasibility of implementing a national network (NN) of unmanned vehicles (UVs), both surface and aerial, was explored using a Portuguese case study. The following approach and analysis can be easily generalized to other case studies, bringing essential knowledge to the field. Analyzing oil spill alert events in the Portuguese EEZ between 2017 and 2021 and performing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, essential information has been proposed for the optimal location of an NN of UVs. The study results demonstrate that integrating spill alerts at sea with UVs may significantly improve response time, costs, and personnel involvement, making maritime pollution combat actions more effective.

Publication details

Authors in the community:

Publication version

VoR - Version of Record

Publisher

MDPI

Link to the publisher's version

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/11/10/224#metrics

Title of the publication container

Environments

DOI

10.3390/environments11100224

Fields of Science and Technology (FOS)

computer-and-information-sciences - Computer and information sciences

Keywords

  • environmental monitoring
  • oil spill detection
  • pollution prevention
  • pollution control
  • sea pollution
  • sustainable ocean management
  • unmanned vehicles
  • unmanned aerial vehicle
  • unmanned surface vehicle
  • strategy

Publication language (ISO code)

eng - English

Rights type:

Only metadata available

Creative Commons license

CC-BY - CC-BY