On Saturday, June 18th the first international test with deploying an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to aid in combating an incident onboard a ship will take place on the Westerschelde. The small unmanned aircraft will be operated from a mobile groundstation at the Perkpolder harbor and will obtain data on the situation.
During this test a fire aboard the ship will be simulated. In response to the information obtained by the UAV a manned helicopter will depart from Oostende. The firefighters from the helicopter will then board the ship.
This test will take place in response to the Interreg2seas project BERISUAS in which seven parties from England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands will cooperate to enlarge the safety at sea with the deployment of unmanned aircraft.
Website: http://www.berisuas.eu/