'Super' unmanned aircraft monitors ships causing pollution

A fleet of unmanned aircraft will begin monitoring the airspace of some of the busiest ports in the world with the goal of cutting pollution from cargo ships.

Bloomberg News on May 21 said officials are applying new laws to reduce SO ₂ emissions - the cause of acid rain and asthma - from cargo ships.

Cargo ships dock in Rotterdam in the Netherlands - (Photo: REUTERS).

Because the new law requires most freight trains to use more expensive fuel, some owners may deliberately cheat to use oil at cheaper prices. That is the reason for the unmanned surveillance fleet.

Bloomberg said the Netherlands - home to the largest port in the European Union, is preparing to introduce a large unmanned aerial aircraft capable of flying 16km off shore to monitor the emissions of ships.

Local law enforcement called it " super drone".

Hong Kong's container port has been the busiest port in the world - (Photo: AFP).

In Hong Kong, those who violate the emission law will face severe fines and face imprisonment of up to 6 months.Bloomberg said the administrative district is also testing small drones with the same purpose of monitoring pollution at ports.

Authorities in Denmark and Norway have also started using this technology to cut pollution.

Authorities can use unmanned aircraft to filter out infringing cargo ships of their tens of thousands of ships entering and leaving their ports and to properly inspect the infringing carrier quickly.

In Hong Kong and Shenzhen (China), authorities often have to select hundreds of cargo ships for random checks. Professor Zhi Ning of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said that for this reason, local authorities in China's special districts and cities are working with scholars on how to use unmanned aircraft.

These drones will fly into smoke columns emitted from the ships, collecting real-time data to calculate how much sulfur is in the ship's fuel. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology conducted this technology test in May and will send the team to the port of the special zone.