On 16 April, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri opened the annual European Coast Guard Event in Świnoujście, Poland. This is the second such event jointly organised by Frontex, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The Annual Coast Guard Event provides a platform for national authorities, the EU agencies involved in the cooperation on ...

Following the fire on board the Grande America which subsequently sank on 12 March in the Bay of Biscay, EMSA has been providing emergency assistance at the request of the French authorities. It was reported that the vessel, Grande America, a vehicle carrier with container capacity (IMO 9130937, 56 642 GT, built 1997, Italian flagged) had been carrying 15 000 tons of cargo (860 tons of which were ...

EMSA has recently secured four contracts for maritime surveillance services based on remotely piloted aircraft systems. These contracts will provide increased maritime surveillance capabilities to European agencies and member states within the context of their coast guard functions. While EMSA has already been providing RPAS services since 2017, these new contracts come in direct response to incr ...

The first flight of the operation took place on 25 September and marks the beginning of a two-month cycle targeting real-time pre-border monitoring and law enforcement. EMSA contracted Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems are being used this time by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to provide support to the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) (Portuguese National Republi ...

Interagency cooperation between EMSA and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) was taken a step further following a request for an inspection vessel by EFCA. EMSA identified the Aegis I vessel as the most suitable option for EFCA’s needs, given the vessel’s characteristics and usual area of operation.