Greek Shipping Minister, Yiannis Plakiotakis, announced on Monday that Greece is about to receive a desperately-needed state-of-the-art surveillance system covering the entire Aegean Sea.
Mr Plakiotakis stated that the new system will make possible the “timely awareness of the prevailing situation in the maritime field of responsibility of the Coast Guard.”
Called the National Integrated Maritime Surveillance System (NIMSS), the new mechanism will cost an estimated 62 million euros.
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It entails the creation of a network of 35 fixed radars and 26 large-scale cameras that will be set up at military installations and will transmit in real time and on a 24-hour basis to two management centers of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
For the first time, the movements of human trafficking vessels carrying migrants and refugees, along with any and all vessels which might infringe on Greece’s territorial rights, will be able to be monitored in real time.
The information will also be ale to be shared with Frontex, the EU’s border patrol agency.
The tender for the system’s construction was announced on June 30 and the deadline for applications initially set for August 20 but extended, due to COVID-19, to October 30.
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