The EMA Group has announced that the government of Montenegro has awarded the company the contract for implementing its BlueTraker® Vessel Monitoring System components (VMS) for the country''s commercial fishing fleet.
The contract, issued by the European Union Delegation to Montenegro, together with the Institute of Marine Biology, Fisheries Administration and Fisheries Inspection, provides a system for monitoring and control of fishing vessels. The contracted equipment complies with all the requirements of the EU Commission.
EMA will install its BlueTraker® VMS terminals onto 25 Montenegrin fishing vessels by the end of 2012 and integrate the flow of data they will generate into the Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) database. BlueTraker VMS terminals are hybrid communication devices that use Iridium satellite service to transmit vessel coordinates when ships are out of the range of shore-based, wireless networks, and GPRS mobile network data service to transfer data when ships are close to shore.
BlueTraker terminals have an advantage compared to other similar devices, due to technical features such as hybrid design, and a high level of integration. Complete electronics, antennas, backup batteries, and communication transceivers are all packed in robust, protective housing. Several additional functionalities are granted to fishermen and authority such as:
- An alert button to enable FMC to respond in cases of fishermen distress
- A download of historical high resolution position reports (i.e. position every five minutes…) - when demanded by FMC
- A remote BlueTraker terminal software upgrade - via satellite or via mobile network
- A catch report sent via satellite or GPRS as required by EU Directives
With this project EMA will unify the VMS systems in the Eastern Adriatic, as the BlueTraker VMS solution will be used to monitor the national fishery fleets of Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro.
