SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Nordic Unmanned uses drones to monitor ship sulphur emissions
- Published March 22, 2023; updated September 21, 2026; estimated reading time 2 minutes. Categories: Maritime; Technology.
- Nordic Unmanned supplies and operates UAS fitted with sensors to detect SO₂, CO₂, NO₂ and NO in ship exhaust. Remote measurements of vessels underway can estimate fuel composition outside port; if readings exceed limits, the vessel’s next port is notified to collect fuel samples. The page says in-port-only testing can miss ships that temporarily switch to cleaner fuel, while remote measurement lets authorities inspect more ships more quickly and focus enforcement where violations occur.
- The article links heavy-fuel-oil sulphur emissions to air pollution, acid rain, ocean acidification and respiratory illness. It cites an older study projecting up to 570,000 premature deaths worldwide by 2025 if shipping sulphur emissions were unchecked. It says the IMO Sulphur 2020 cap created demand for reliable monitoring.
- Nordic Unmanned also provides oil-spill monitoring and other inspection services and has developed railway-maintenance and hydrogen-powered drones. The page says EMSA signed a four-year contract in 2018 for sulphur measurements in European waters using large RPAS aircraft as sensor carriers, and that Nordic Unmanned also has an EMSA oil-spill-monitoring contract. SDGs 3, 9, 14 and 15 shown.
- Contact: Stein Engen, Chief Commercial Officer, se@nordicunmanned.com; phone reveal control collapsed. Company: NORDIC UNMANNED ASA, Havnespeilet, 3rd floor, Rådhusgata 3, 4306 Sandnes, Norway; nordicunmanned.com/.