Mersin Metropolitan Municipality has strengthened its sea inspections to protect the Mediterranean with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Drone). Continuing the inspections with the drone, the first flight of which was carried out by President Vahap Seçer, the Environmental Protection and Control Department can conduct inspections in a faster, more effective and wider area. Finally, the drone, which made an inspection in a wide area with the departure made in Çamlıbel Fishing Shelter, checked whether the marine vehicles in the port left waste. Administrative fines are imposed on marine vehicles that are found to leave waste after being inspected both by drone and by boats. In this context, a penalty of 490 million 26 thousand TL was applied to 44 ships in 464 inspections.
Fast inspection within 7 kilometers
The drone with the latest technological features purchased by the Metropolitan Municipality can stay in the air for 7 minutes with its ability to fly about 30 kilometers in diameter. The airtime of the device is up to 5 hours with 3 sets of backup batteries. Although the maritime inspection authority area of the Metropolitan Municipality is from land to 3 miles offshore, the technical features of the device provide the opportunity to monitor and control this area completely. The cameras on it provide the opportunity to record images with night vision and infrared. One of the most important features of the device is that the camera has the feature of tracking objects.
The goal is to keep the Mediterranean clean
Mersin Metropolitan Municipality aims to ensure that citizens can swim from every point of the coastline by protecting the Mediterranean and the ecosystem. The Environmental Protection and Control Department has imposed a penalty of 2019 million 490 thousand 26 TL by imposing administrative sanctions on 44 ships in 464 inspections carried out with inspection tools since April 257 within the framework of this target.
"We started the drone inspections to be able to go long distances in a short time"
Head of Environmental Protection and Control Department, Dr. Stating that they went to the purchase of drones to carry out the inspections more comprehensively, Bülent Halisdemir said, “We started the inspections with the drone in order to move faster and go to long distances in a shorter time. When we brought this issue to our President, he was very positive and we quickly went to buy a drone. With drone, we control the illegal wastewater of ships that docked at the port, including offshore ships. We quickly reach the marine vessels that we detect to leave wastewater with our marine inspection boat and take samples. We send this sample to accredited laboratories for analysis. "If there is a polluting effect, we apply administrative fines," he said.
"We will also make night checks"
Stating that the drone can scan an area of 7 kilometers very quickly, this makes the inspection much more comprehensive, Halisdemir said, “The batteries on it keep it in the air for half an hour and we have a special camera system on it. This camera system has a zoom feature, which means it can zoom even from a few kilometers away to see if the sea vehicle is creating pollution. Our device has night vision. Therefore, we will also make night checks ”.
"Our aim is not to detect something thrown and write a penalty, but to ensure that it is not polluted."
Stating that they have notified that all ships approaching and approaching Mersin Port have been inspected, Halisdemir said:
“We don't want to write a penalty. We struggle to make our seas cleaner and more accessible. Our president is very determined on this issue. We want to spread the principle of being able to swim from anywhere to the next years. We want it to be possible to swim from Çamlıbel Fishing Shelter where we are now. Therefore, we will implement all kinds of technological developments that will prevent the pollution of the sea. We will do everything we can to keep our seas clean. At this point, the drone gives us both speed and a more effective combat method. We think that deterrence will increase in the coming days. Our aim is not to detect something that is thrown or contaminated and to write a penalty, but to ensure that it is not contaminated.
Günay: "We do not leave that ship from the port before the ship pays its penalty"
Levent Günay, who works as Marine Pollution Auditor at the Environmental Protection and Control Department, explained the inspection process and said, “We sail with our boat during the routine inspections we do every day in Mersin Port and its surroundings. We have two inspections and one boat that cleans the sea surface. When we sail with our marine inspection boat, we control the wastewater around the ships. If we feel that the waste water is also dirty, we approach our boat and take samples. We seal our samples for analysis. We take a sample of polluted water and clean sea water for comparison with each other. If the result of the analysis turns out to be dirty, we apply a penalty to that ship according to the tariff given by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and we do not leave that ship from the port before the ship pays that fine. We ban the ship from sailing. The samples taken are analyzed in analysis laboratories with accreditation ”.
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