Airbus reinforces maritime security with launch of Ocean Finder

October 26, 2018 in Business, Companies, Technology & Telecoms, Transport, U by Editor

October 26, 2018 – Airbus Defence and Space has launched Ocean Finder, a maritime tracking service, that helps locate vessels and other objects at sea.

The satellite-based service relies on a variety of data and optical sensors to deliver rapid detection and identification reports for small and medium sized vessels as well as large ships at sea.  Ocean Finder supports a wide range of applications, such as monitoring fleets of ships, locating hijacked boats, illegal activities detection; maritime mission preparation as well as ensuring safety in hostile areas and supporting search and rescue operations.

According to Airbus, Ocean Finder leverages its satellite constellations, to offer a full spectrum of Earth-imaging data, spanning multiple resolutions and spectral wavelengths, along with in-house maritime expertise. The service combines freshly acquired imagery with additional information sources including AIS (Automatic Identification System) and open source data to deliver object-centric (ships, icebergs, oil slick) or area-centric (objects in a given area) detection and identification.

The service is accessed via a dedicated web portal allowing users to easily define the localisation and the surface of their area of interest and task the satellites directly. This can be activated in standard mode to support planned mission preparation, or emergency mode to support urgent intervention.