Volunteer ships
Since the creation of the REPCET® system in 2010, companies have voluntarily equipped some of their ships. As part of an ecological approach, La Méridionale was the very first to equip 3 of their vessels with REPCET in 2011. Other companies such as Orange Marine, the Gazocean subsidiary, the French Navy and DIRM have also equipped their vessels since 2014.
The Mediterranean Sea is a major transit point within the world maritime space: 25% of world maritime traffic is concentrated there, including 30% of world tanker traffic.
In summer, 85% of the touristic trips to reach Corsica from the mainland is carried out by boat. In 2017, Corsica Ferries, under Italian flag and thus not subject to the French law, has equipped 4 of its vessels that regularly navigates in the Pelagos Sanctuary.
More and more shipping companies are crossing the sea between Corsica and the Mainland while in summer, the Mediterranean Sea gathers more than 12 species of cetaceans, potentially subject to collisions. The MIRACETI NGO strongly recommends to all shipping companies that are regularly undertaking this trip within the Pelagos Sanctuary, to equip their boats with the REPCET device or a similar system.
The Agoa Sanctuary has an area of 143,256 km², which represents the total area of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the French West Indies. Agoa is the largest marine protected area (MPA) of international status “specially protected area of the Cartagena Convention”, which is directly managed by the French Biodiversity Agency. This area is almost twice as large as the Pelagos Sanctuary.
REPCET® software uses the mesh density created by navigation to improve detection of large cetaceans from ships. It is in our common interest to voluntarily equip vessels.
User benefits
For Ships’ Crews
- Fast capture of a position, report of whales, small cetaceans or drifting objects ;
- Real-time alert distributed to all the network members ;
- Display of a dynamic cartography of positions and alarms, based on advanced knowledge of animal ethology ;
- Transmission of AVURNAV issued by CROSSMED (within the
Mediterranean Sea) ; - 24/24 availability and worldwide coverage.
For ship-owners
- A concrete way to be a part of the biodiversity protection ;
- A legitimate “green” communication medium.
For CROSS and marine protected areas
- A dedicated supervision and distribution software.
For the scientific community
- A significant increase in data collected on cetaceans available to the community.