Improving maritime border surveillance

Europe needs to protect itself from illegal movements of goods and people, meaning constant maritime border surveillance. Such systems already exist, but would benefit from additional capacity, including automated detection and analysis.

The EU-funded 'Protection of European seas and borders through the intelligent use of surveillance' (PERSEUS) project aims to develop and demonstrate an appropriate system. The innovation combines existing national systems and provides new capabilities that exceed European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) 2013 expectations. The system promises improved detection and identification of suspicious small boats and aircraft, enhanced automated detection of abnormal vessel patterns and improved threat assessment. The 29-member consortium further plans to draft recommendations and new operational standards, and to support a network of National Contact Centres. The project runs to mid-2015.

Work initially focused on gathering user requirements, both through direct contact and assessment of legacy systems. The stage allowed description of the proposed system updates and architectures, plus design of various missions and scenarios. The group also assessed a set of situational pictures.

The project has commenced implementation of enhancements for legacy systems, including automated analysis and detection subsystems. Other such work included data fusion engines, tools for the generation of intelligence from open sources and other innovative applications. Maritime data service providers have been integrated.

Work to date has helped define a common information sharing environment according to a standardised data model.

The project drafted important recommendations about the legal and political framework of the proposed surveillance and related technologies. The team also established links with other Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) bodies, particularly those associated with EUROSUR and Frontex. Finally, the consortium prepared a process for the validation process, scheduled for the project's latter phases.

The PERSEUS system is expected to integrate and improve European maritime border control and surveillance. The system also contributes to the implementation of EUROSUR phase three.