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Drones are 'sniffing' ship exhaust for illegal fuel in European waters

By Matthew Sparkes

29 September 2021

camcopter-S-100

The Camcopter S-100, manufactured by Schiebel

Schiebel

Drones are routinely being used for anti-pollution missions off the coast of Europe to “sniff” the exhaust fumes from ships and catch operators using illegal fuel.

At the start of last year, the UN’s International Maritime Organization introduced new legislation to reduce the limit on the percentage of sulphur in fuel used by ships from 3.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Certain congested areas, such as the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, have special limits of 0.1 per cent. Sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships have been found to…

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