2024-02-09 23:00:59
Ships seen from the cosmos. It may seem strange, but it exists! And it is even one of the most important challenges for the future of passenger and freight transport. At the end of January, maritime professionals were in Marseille in the south of France for the Euromaritime Meetings. Space surveillance and satellites have been part of current debates.
Have you noticed ? There has never been a second Titanic “. Such a catastrophic shipwreck on the seas of the world. It’s thanks to the sky, to the satellites.
AIS, Satellite Authentication System
This British humor is precisely the work of a Briton, Nick Appleyard, director of the European Space Agency. His quality as a telecommunications expert allows him to understand the data from around twenty specialized satellites. These policemen of the maritime route, he says, whose sensors and radars see and record everything, currents, speeds of ships or cargo:
« You know, it’s at sea like GPS on trains or trucks. Space, with satellites, allows a more efficient quality of connections than terrestrial means which are vulnerable (obstacles, homes, walls, weather, etc.) Then satellites and radars take precise photographs of ships and the dangers of the sea: icebergs, oil spills, plastic slicks or algae… So many parameters useful to sailors and shipowners who can save time and better manage their trajectories. »
Fight against pollution
The development of computers and new artificial intelligence, called generative, will transform ship monitoring. Faster, more precise, the tools calculate speeds to save fuel.
Thanks to the innovations of new artificial intelligence, satellites will make it possible to develop tools that will be able to remotely pilot a ship in difficulty maneuvering in port or in a canal.
Russian tankers and attacks in the Red Sea
Paul Tourret, director of Isemar, the Higher Institute of Maritime Economics, sees another advantage directly linked to the news of attacks on ships off the coast of Yemen:
« I cite just two examples of satellite surveillance linked to the hot news of 2024. Russian oil ships and cargo attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. The transportation of Russian oil is under sanctions, but not illegal. Using satellites, we can monitor shipments and the routes they follow to their destination. As for attacks off Yemen, the Houthis use signals sent by satellite connections to obtain information on boats. So, of course, the ships can turn off their connection. This endangers not only the crew and the goods, but also the entire security of international maritime traffic. »
Aware of the importance of space in winning the battle against pollution, the French shipowner CMA-CGM has signed a partnership (2021-2026) with CNES, the National Center for Space Studies.
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