Commercial shipping companies are rushing to strengthen their fleets' protection against drones following a wave of attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea and the Middle East. Financial Times reports, writes UNN.
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Counter-drone specialists, including Marss, Drone Defence and D-fend, said they had seen a sharp increase in the number of inquiries from shipowners, with particularly strong interest among companies involved in transporting oil and gas cargoes and operating in the marine energy infrastructure sector.
Commercial vessels, the publication writes, are increasingly becoming targets of attacks in the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea, as parties to conflicts seek to disrupt critical supply chains for goods, while shipowners willing to operate in dangerous waters are setting record freight rates for their vessels.
D-fend Solutions Chief Marketing Officer Jeffrey Starr told the Financial Times that the company, founded by Israeli cybersecurity experts and specializing in taking control of hostile drones before safely landing them, was seeing "huge demand" from the shipping sector.
"We are seeing shipowners, shippers and naval forces facing an asymmetric threat that is driving a significant increase in inquiries about our technologies," he said. "This threat from unmanned aircraft is no longer confined to areas of intense combat."
According to Chief Executive Richard Gill, rival company Drone Defence has recorded an increase in inquiries from oil tankers and gas carriers, as if shipowners can protect their vessels, "they will be able to choose riskier routes."
John Stawpert, maritime director at the International Chamber of Shipping, said the threat posed to the industry by drones had increased in recent years, "from both surface and airborne platforms, and this is particularly relevant in areas of active conflict, such as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Black Sea."
According to the International Maritime Organization, more than 20 sailors have been killed in the Persian Gulf by drone and missile strikes since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in late February, while around 30 people have been killed in the Black Sea this year.
The cost of chartering a supertanker to pass through the Strait of Hormuz reached a historic high of $1.2 million per day last week for voyages to China, compared with an average of about $79,000 per day in September last year.
Marine energy infrastructure, including pipelines, cables and wind farms, has also become a target, the publication notes. European security services report surveillance using drones and, in some cases, covert attacks, while NATO countries are increasingly voicing concern over Russian interference in European waters, the publication writes.
According to several counter-drone specialists, until recently demand for anti-drone technology at sea came mainly from superyacht owners seeking protection from paparazzi.
"Superyachts were one of the areas where it all began ... and a significant number of top yachts are protected by the Nidar system," said Marss Development Director Rob Bullock.
The company is now seeing a "step change" in the development of vessels serving the offshore oil and gas industry, as "the technology and software for integrating it have reached a price point at which the costs of lost days due to such threats justify the investment."
Nidar systems operate by using onboard surveillance technologies, such as radar and cameras, to detect approaching threats. More advanced systems may include kinetic means of response, depending on the laws of the region in which the vessel operates.
Drones can also be disabled by jamming GPS signals or disrupting their control frequencies.
Hill said that a radar system with cameras and a signal-jamming system would cost approximately $500,000 for an oil tanker. Ships that cannot afford such technologies resort to more primitive means of protection against drones, such as nets and suspended water tanks, to confuse the drones or cause them to explode before they reach critical parts of the ship, the publication writes.
The key task for counter-drone companies is to develop systems capable of accurately targeting drones in conditions of heavy seas and withstanding exposure to corrosive salt water.
Starr said that D-Fend, whose technology was used to protect U.S. ports during this year's FIFA World Cup, had created a "reinforced, protected version" of its system for maritime applications, which had become "an excellent growth driver."
But keeping pace with the constantly changing threat is an ongoing struggle.
"It's an endless cycle," Bullock said. "Just when you think you've deployed the best thing you've ever deployed, it changes. Everything is moving so fast."