Maritime safety, security and environnement

France enters a new era

With regard to competitiveness, the sustainability and support of the French shipbuilding industry are major challenges for national and European strategic autonomy. To combat distortions of competition, the shipbuilding industry must receive state support to ensure sector’s productivity.

The implementation of an appropriate economic framework, the revival of public procurement and retaliatory measures would restore fair competition conditions for the industry to ensure the sustainability of its activities.

Furthermore, exports are now essential for the shipbuilding sector, whether for shipyards or equipment manufacturers. For maritime vessels, the opening of markets in the 1980’s had a considerable impact in terms of loss of industrial capacity and job losses.

Distortions of competition are endangering the sector, hence the work undertaken with national and European authorities.

The maritime and costal economy has never been so important: 95% of goods and 901% of data flows pass through the oceans. More than 60% of world’s population lives in large coastal zone, meaning that 3.8 billion people reside less than 150km from the shore. The challenge of protecting and securing the oceans, their fishery and mineral resources, and maritime routes is considerable. French manufacturers have considerable expertise in maritime surveillance, sea observation, maritime safety and security, and marine pollution.

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What are the challenges facing maritime safety?

With commercial maritime traffic continuing to grow, it must be protected from malicious acts, piracy, maritime terrorism and any act that seeks to impede freedom of navigation at sea.
– Shipping lanes are becoming more congested. They must be monitored to anticipate and counter all forms of illegal traffic accidents and illegal immigration.
– Marine renewable energy installations, such as offshore wind farms and tidal turbine farms, planned around the world along coastlines must be made safe from a nautical and environmental point of view.
– Mineral and fishery resources such as the exploitation of rare earths in deep sea, the exploitation of marine biological resources and fishing must be monitored and controlled to prevent the plundering of resources and the violation of international (International Seabed Authority, ISA) or regional (Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, RFMOs, EU) decisions.

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French industries are now approaching the world collectively.

To secure maritime traffic, French manufacturers are deploying their integrated maritime security capabilities and systems across the ocean to effectively protect ports, coastlines, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZs) by combining early warning and network-centric surveillance.
– To monitor ships, French manufacturers are deploying optical and radar observation satellites that act as filtering barriers to provide early warning of the presence of suspicious vessels and enable them to be tracked continuously by drones, helicopters or surveillance aircraft.
– To secure marine renewable energy, French manufacturers offer reliable solutions for monitoring and managing all maritime activities in vicinity of fixed or floating offshore wind farms and submerged tidal turbines.
– To monitor mineral and fishery resources, French manufacturers offer reliable solutions for tracking and managing all maritime activities near fixed or floating offshore wind farms and submerged tidal turbines.
– To monitor mineral and fishery resources, French manufacturers are participating in the European environmental monitoring program, which brings together all data from environmental satellites to provide a comprehensive view of the state of the sea.

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For tomorrow, seeing and knowing further out to sea

French manufacturers must continue to expand their knowledge of maritime activities:
– By developing and strengthening the AIS (Automatic Identification System) service of its satellites and, at the end of the decade, by launching a system of observation satellites into geostationary orbit, equipped with state-of-the-art telescopes designed to obtain real-time information in strategic maritime areas (humanitarian or security missions and defense operations).
– By deploying high-frequency radar antenna arrays (HF radar) in the near future, the ground waves will be able to cover part of the 2,000 nautical miles of exclusive economic zones.
– Continuing the development of fixed-wing and rotary-wing drones to ensure permanent presence at sea and track illegal vessels, and to monitor areas of maritime interest, and developing surface and underwater maritime drones.

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The digitization of the maritime sector

Digital transformation provides the maritime sector with new technological tools: faster data transmission speeds, the ability to process ever-increasing amounts of data, greater computing and simulation power, increased storage capacity, secure collaborative platforms equipped with new, much more reliable real-time software, and increasingly targeted business applications.

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Conclusion

All future maritime-oriented projects demonstrate the desire of French manufacturers to form teams and invest in technological innovation in order to stay one step ahead in technology transfers, thereby maintaining their industrial standing in the world and capturing export markets.
Driven by a pioneering spirit in the maritime sector, French manufacturers are now jointly expanding their ambitions to the high seas, a source of progress and shared prosperity for humanity.

SIGNIFICANT UNDERCAPACITY IN FRENCH INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

mARItime security

It aims to protect ships from criminal activities that may take place at sea (piracy, slave trade, drug trafficking, terrorism).

#PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE AREAS

involves defending specific maritime areas and installations (offshore oil platforms, offshore wind farms, container terminals, etc.).

#THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING

(drugs, weapons, humans) is now a major challenge for States. In recent years, numerous measures have been taken at international level to systematize efforts to combat such trafficking.

#PIRACY AND TERRORISM

There are two types of threats that affect a growing number of ships at sea. The means deployed to counter these phenomena must be dynamic and take international law into account.

#CRISIS MANAGEMENT

at sea is the ability to prevent and combat the development of land conflicts from the sea, through maritime forces deployed or pre-positioned around the world.

they are experts in maritime security

Maritime Safety

It concerns the prevention of risks of natural origin or caused by maritime navigation (collisions, groundings, fires, explosions).

#COASTAL AND PORT SURVEILLANCE

is essential insofar as these strategic areas are densely populated and host critical facilities of vital importance to States.

#SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR)

refers to actions taken following accidents or natural disasters. These activities, which can be complex, require significant resources and well-trained personnel.

#MARITIME TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

is essential in high-traffic areas to prevent accidents and limit environmental damage. Regional controls are necessary to complement existing national and international regulations.

#THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE (EEZ) AND THE EXTENSION OF THE CONTINENTAL SHELF

is a priority for many States wishing to extend their sovereign rights beyond their territorial waters. Maritime areas that have not yet been explored need to be regulated and protected so that they can be preserved for future generations.

They are maritime safety experts

the maritime environment

The maritime environment is defined by oceans, seas, bays, estuaries, waterways, coastal regions and ports. Protecting it involves preserving its biodiversity and resources by preventing unauthorized spills of oil and chemicals, preventing accidental or deliberate pollution, and controlling fishing and marine aquaculture.

#FISHING CONTROL

ensures compliance with regulations in force in order to protect fisheries resources.

#POLLUTION CONTROL

includes combating deliberate discharges of pollutants at sea and accidental pollution.

#DANGEROUS TRAFFIC CONTROL

focuses on ships carrying dangerous goods on the maritime routes they use and reports on damage observed.

#WASTE MANAGEMENT

plays an important role in controlling and reducing the quantities of waste discharged into the sea by ships.