With 90% of traded goods shipped by sea, 99% of the global internet traffic transiting through subsea cables or 30% of total hydrocarbon production coming from offshore platforms, our oceans and seas are one of Earth's most valuable resources for human activities.

Yet, our maritime environment is more than ever facing critical challenges regarding global warming, disputes between nations or multiplication of illegal activities that are difficult to detect and mitigate.

Despite regulations, quotas and controls, legacy maritime security and monitoring systems are showing their limits, and do not provide an exhaustive view on deceptive shipping practices. This situation leads to many blind spots and contributes to raise risks with more uncertainty. 

Indeed, the critical maritime areas to monitor are vast, often far from coasts, and shipborne cooperative and declarative systems (such as AIS) can be deactivated or manipulated.

Here is where space-based radio frequency detection comes in

Detecting and geolocating vessels from their radio frequency (RF) signals fills the gaps of legacy surveillance systems. Every satellite can cover wide areas at sea giving a more realistic view of the real maritime traffic and identify dark ships (non-cooperative vessels) that can be a source of risks in territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and open seas.

Space-based RF detection is a new benchmark for maritime surveillance with the launch of new constellations by European and American tech companies just five years ago. This helps marine insurersbetter anticipate risks with their policyholders, deal with hazards, and investigate when liabilities or reputation is impacted.

As a new IUMI Professional Partner, Unseenlabs is honoured to participate in the 150th anniversary conference to share maritime security solutions for risk assessment, loss prevention and compliance.

Read more here.