Schiebel Camcopter S-100 impresses at sulphur sniffer capability test

Schiebel, together with partner Nordic Unmanned, successfully completed a two-day test of its sniffer capability on board the Camcopter S-100 UAS in the shipping lane outside Gniben, Denmark.

Ships operating in Europe's busiest sea routes are permitted to emit exhaust fumes with a sulphur oxide content limited to no more than 0.1 percent. Amongst other solutions that were put in place to enforce this International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 2020 regulation, one option is to use Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), such as the Camcopter S-100, equipped with a sulphur sniffer. The UAS flies through the ship's exhaust plume to measure the sulphur emissions and uses its Automatic Identification System (AIS) to identify the ships.

The Camcopter S-100 performed two successful flights of about four hours during the trial and provided compliant measurements of sulphur emissions. The certified sniffer provides live readings of the sulphur level in the ship's exhaust plume.

In addition to the sulphur sniffer and the AIS, the Camcopter S-100 was equipped with an L3 Harris Wescam MX-10 real-time Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera.

Knut Roar Wiig, CEO at Nordic Unmanned said: "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. The measurement test scored 10 out of 10 points and we demonstrated our capability as an operator and ability to quickly get the required authorisations to deploy and fly the service. We really look forward to helping maritime authorities in Europe and other parts of the world to enforce the IMO 2020 regulation by deploying our crew and the Camcopter S-100 to conduct sulphur emission monitoring. If a ship is not following the regulations, we will definitely sniff it out."