Innovative Earth observation services in support of maritime litter detection and ship source pollution policies

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• National maritime authorities and enforcement bodies will benefit from improved detection services to fulfil the requirements of the Ship Sourced Pollution Directive (SSPD), ultimately resulting in a higher environmental protection of sea waters and preservation of marine ecosystems;
• Increased accuracy from the developed solutions will allow more efficient and quick responses to potential spill incidents.

The project should address the following points:

• Development and demonstration of space sensors, including the assessment of their operational boundaries and associated technical confidence levels, for the following use cases:
  • Estimation of oil spill volume and thickness, in conjunction with the identification of oil types using for instance oil spectral signatures;
  • Detection of oil spills in sea ice conditions;
  • Detection and identification of chemical products on the sea surface (MARPOL Annex II);
  • Detection and identification of sewage on the sea surface (MARPOL Annex IV);
  • Detection and identification of garbage on the sea surface (MARPOL Annex V);
  • Detection and identification of exhaust gas cleaning system residue, and monitoring of single-vessel methane emissions (MARPOL Annex VI);
  • Detection and identification of the possible polluter using vessel unique spectral signature;
  • Elements of detection of other pollution emissions (MARPOL Annex VI) might prove useful and would be considered a plus;
• Design and improvement of use artificial intelligence methods for the identification of spills, sewage and garbage on the sea surface and their characteristics to achieve a higher level of timeliness, automation and confidence (e.g. avoid false alerts).

Context:

The MARPOL convention adopted at the IMO level regulates the release at sea of substances originating from ships, be it from the ship’s operation or cargo operations. The Ship Source Pollution Directive adopted in 2005 seeks to strengthen the enforcement in the EU of the prohibition of release at sea of substances under Annex I and II of the MARPOL convention. Currently, high-resolution satellite imagery of the ocean surface is used to monitor and detect potential spill, notably through the CleanSeaNet service, offered by the European Maritime Safety Agency.

The revision of the Directive will expand its scope to discharges in the water under all MARPOL annexes. Further research is needed to adapt the current monitoring systems to the accurate detection of the substances included under the revised scope of the SSPD as the technologies may not be available or accurate enough.

The objective of this topic is to support R&I activities developing advanced technological solutions, that will allow to enhance the service provided to Member States for the detection of potential spills and identification of potential polluters.

R&I activities should complement what is currently being done by EMSA, along CleanSeaNet and the Copernicus maritime surveillance service. Moreover, the Copernicus Security Services Strategic Research Agenda (CSS-SRA) provides, on a yearly basis, an overview of R&D activities, as well as proposed actions based on latest developments. Applicants are invited to consult the corresponding additional requirements and information based on the CSS-SRA^[1] and subsequent updates when they become available to develop their proposal.

The transfer of research results to operations should receive active attention during the project to strengthen the readiness for an operational deployment in the future.  Appropriate involvement and/or interaction with EMSA, the conditions for making available, for re-using and exploiting the results (including IPR) by the said entities must be addressed during the project implementation. Proposals are encouraged to connect with and contribute to both the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.

In this topic, the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content should be addressed only if relevant in relation to the objectives of the research effort.

[1] JRC Publications Repository - The Strategic Research Agenda for Copernicus Security Service 2023 (europa.eu)