Schiebel and Nordic Unmanned recently completed a two-day test in the shipping lane outside Gniben, Denmark, to evaluate the CAMCOPTER S-100’s sniffing capabilities. 

Ships that operate in busy routes in Europe are permitted to emit exhaust fumes with a sulphur oxide content of no more than 0.1 percent, according to a news release. Drones equipped with a sulphur sniffer are among the solutions that can be used to enforce this International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 2020 regulation. 

The UAS flies through the exhaust plume to measure sulphur emissions and then uses its Automatic Identification System (AIS) to identify the ships.

During the trial, he CAMCOPTER S-100 performed two successful flights and detected compliant sulphur emission measurements. The certified sniffer provides live readings of the sulphur level in the ship’s exhaust plume. The system also was equipped with an L3 Harris Wescam MX-10 real-time Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera.

“Due to the extensive operational experience in the maritime area as well as its endurance and ease of deployment, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 is the ideal aircraft to sniff out the polluters,” Nordic Unmanned CEO Knut Roar Wiig said, according to the release. “The measurement test scored 10 out of 10 points and we demonstrated our capability as an operator and ability to quickly get the required authorizations to deploy and fly the service. …If a ship is not following the regulations, we will definitely sniff it out.”