In September 2024, we successfully finalized our project, Satellite Radar and Optical Oil Pollution Detection and Monitoring (E! 2,448: Sar2dem), funded by Eurostars, the Eureka Network, and Horizon Europe.
The R&D project lasted 18 months, with the goal of developing a system to detect oil spills in the inner territorial sea using both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. The completion of the Sar2dem project marked the formal integration of oil spill detection models into our existing Coastal Intelligence portfolio of services.
Uniqueness of the Developed Technology
What makes our approach unique is that SeaCras has developed AI algorithms capable of processing Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data to detect oil spills not only in territorial waters but also in complex coastal environments, such as Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and Southeast Asia. Most existing industry solutions are designed primarily for open waters. However, SeaCras’ solution overcomes this limitation.
Additionally, through our R&D activities, we identified the limitations of relying solely on open-source data, particularly in terms of temporal and spatial resolution. This presents a challenge when responding quickly to pollution incidents in coastal areas.
To address this, we integrated a series of commercial satellite data sources to enhance both temporal and spatial resolution, ultimately improving response times and strengthening the resilience of the maritime transport sector.
This is especially important considering that EMSA’s CleanSeaNet service in 2023 detected most potential incidents within areas smaller than two km². In contrast, SeaCras specializes in detecting pollution hazards as small as a few hundred square meters or less — this is fine detection at its best.
Oil spills occurrences in the Mediterranean Sea (adapted from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112338)
Also, maritime transport contributes to water pollution through the emission of hazardous substances; primarily oil spills, but also through operational discharges such as grey water and waste from exhaust gas cleaning systems (ECGS). Also, the discharge of grey water has increased by 40% from 2014 to 2023, mainly due to the growth in cruise ship operations.
Building on these findings, we expanded our evaluation beyond acute pollution (such as oil spills) to include soft pollution, such as blackwater tank discharges and sewage water discharges from large vessels.
Aerial view of the oil spill off the coast of Premantura, Croatia.
SeaCras Technology Now Enables the Identification of Multiple Pollution Categories in Maritime Transport Sector:
- MARPOL Annex I – Oil Pollution
- MARPOL Annex IV – Sewage Pollution
- MARPOL Annex V – Garbage Pollution
All this is made possible through the strategic use of AI-driven methods, a combination of diverse satellite data sources, and expertise in data and marine sciences.
The project funding and progress reporting were facilitated by the Croatian Agency for SMEs, Innovations, and Investments (HAMAG-BICRO).
