Zeppelin begins monitoring maritime borders on Samos

The 35-meter-long Zeppelin, carries a radar, thermal camera, AIS (Automatic Identification System) system and can be deployed up to 1,000 meters from the base station. The aim is to provide continuous surveillance of the maritime area in real time and on a 24-hour basis. Samos has developed a mobile, truck-mounted sensor station with the equipment provided by the Portuguese Naval Surveillance System (Guarda Nacional Republicana - GNR) for real-time comparisons of operational capabilities and ground-based calibration capabilities.

"Through this venture, the Coast Guard becomes the first Coast Guard member of the European Union, using a captive balloon to police the maritime area and to fight cross-border crime, just ten months after the first European use of the Medium Altitude Long Endurance Aircraft (MALE), in September 2018," reads the statement.

"This demonstrates the strong and clear will of the Coast Guard to make every effort, using the state-of-the-art technology available, to safeguard the external borders of the European Union effectively, to combat all forms of crime and to protect human life at sea," it is pointed out.

The pilot activity is part of the Poseidon Joint European Operation, which has been running on a continuous basis since May 2008 under the auspices of the Coast Guard and Police, and under the auspices of the FRONTEX Agency.