After the successful 2014 and 2015 operations, Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 continues its substantial support of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a global search-and-rescue charity organization.
For the third time MOAS and Schiebel will join forces in order to help refugees in distress at sea. In their concerted rescue operations over the past two years more than ten thousand men, women and children could be saved from a drowning death on their way from North Africa to the shores of Europe. The impressive success of this humanitarian mission, to a large extent, is owed to the support of Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100.
Besides its takeoff and landing capability on the 40-meter-long MOAS ship MY Phoenix, the S-100 provides real-time daylight and infrared video which enables the MOAS crew to precisely locate and rescue persons in emergency situations and provide them with medical aid from their ship-borne station. Especially over long distances beyond horizon, in rough sea conditions and at night, the CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System significantly increases chances to find and identify small ships, thus saving the lives of thousands of migrants.
Due to the rising number of asylum-seekers expected to cross the Mediterranean in the upcoming summer months, the privately-financed non-profit MOAS organization has just revived its successful rescue project for 2016. The MY Phoenix set sail departing from Valetta, Malta, yesterday and, once again, the Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 is onboard. As the ideal choice for search and rescue in the maritime environment and particularly suited for single-spot vessels, Schiebel’s S-100 will continue to play a fundamental role in the mission. Hans-Georg Schiebel, owner of the company, emphasizes: “We are very happy about our long-term cooperation with MOAS. Our CAMCOPTER S-100 is a perfect fit for this mission, as it widens the view of the crew onboard and enables them to locate migrants in distress even well beyond the horizon.”
Proud to be part of this extraordinary engagement, Schiebel provides MOAS with a CAMCOPTER S-100 system, as well as with an experienced team of onboard operators.
About Schiebel:
Founded in 1951, the Vienna-based Schiebel Group focuses on the development, testing and production of state-of-the-art mine detection equipment and the revolutionary CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS). Schiebel has built an international reputation for producing quality defense and humanitarian products, which are backed by exceptional after-sales service and support. In 2010,
Schiebel’s new composite division has started to supply high-tech customers with products of supreme carbon fiber technology – all quality-controlled to meet ISO 9001 standards. With headquarters in Vienna (Austria), Schiebel now maintains production facilities in Wiener Neustadt (Austria) and Abu Dhabi (UAE), as well as offices in Washington DC (USA) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia).
About the CAMCOPTER S-100:
Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is a proven capability for military and civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS needs no prepared area or supporting launch or recovery equipment. It operates in day and night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km, both on land and at sea. The S-100 navigates via pre- programmed GPS waypoints or is operated with a pilot control unit. Missions are planned and controlled via a simple point-and-click graphical user interface. High definition payload imagery is transmitted to the control station in real time. Using “fly-by-wire” technology controlled by a triple-redundant flight computer, the UAV can complete its mission automatically. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provides capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 18,000 ft. In its standard configuration, the CAMCOPTER S-100 carries a 75 lbs/34 kg payload up to 10 hours and is powered with AVGas or heavy fuel.
About Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS):
MOAS is a registered NGO based in Malta founded by American entrepreneur Christopher Catrambone and his Italian wife Regina. Since late 2014, MOAS has used the MY Phoenix to locate and rescue almost 13,000 people from the Mediterranean Sea. After becoming the first private rescue operation in the Mediterranean, MOAS spurred other NGOs and the EU to respond directly to the mass casualties. MOAS also operates aboard the 50-meter Emergency Recovery and Response Vessel (ERRV) Responder, equipped with two fast rescue boats, named after Alan and Galip Kurdi, two young Syrian brothers who drowned off Turkey in September 2015.
Source: Press Release