The Government of Malta has chosen to adopt a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) from Spanish technology company Satlink to equip 119 vessels of its fishing fleet.
Under a five-year contract, part-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014-2020, the vessels will also be equipped with satellite transmission services, and Satlink will be responsible for the support and maintenance of the systems, as well as the training of 15 technicians in the Malta Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC).
Maltese DFA (Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture) has chosen Satlink’s VMS device for its ability to integrate the activity data recorded by skippers in the electronic logbook and transmit it in real time to any national or foreign fisheries authority, including the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA). To accomplish this, the solution offers connection to other devices via USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi technology.
The Maltese government has gone down this route to strengthen the management and monitoring of its fleet, in line with the current revision of the EU Fisheries Control Regulation, selecting a tool that will also improve insight into its activity and the adoption of measures for a more sustainable management of the stocks it catches.
Satlink continues to consolidate its international position as a supplier of advanced and reliable systems for the management and optimisation of fishing activity. Last April, the company obtained certification from the UK Marine Management Organisation as a supplier of VMS systems for its artisanal fishing fleet.
In Spain, Satlink has already installed more than 2700 of these systems on fishing vessels.
