Blue bottle boosts maritime surveillance

Fiji is set to strengthen its ability to detect illegal fishing and drug trafficking through new Australian technology designed to monitor suspicious vessels across its waters.

The announcement was made during the launch of Fiji’s new maritime strategic plan, as authorities prepare to bolster security across the country’s 1.3 million square kilometer Exclusive Economic Zone.

Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua says the Blue Bottle technology will help authorities identify suspicious vessels and gather evidence without having to deploy patrol boats to every ship.

“You essentially cannot send a patrol boat to every other ship to try and catch, but we mark them and we’re able to record the evidence.”

He says an earlier trial detected more than 100 vessels involved in potential illegal activity whereby some had switched off their transponders or were fishing without the required licences.

Tikoduadua says some vessels were boarded, while aerial surveillance was also used to investigate suspicious activity.

Australia’s Ambassador to Fiji, Peter Roberts, says the Blue Bottle vessels offer a sustainable way to monitor maritime activity over extended periods.

“These are effective as they are 7.5-metre-long drone ships that run on solar, wind, and wave power. They can stay at sea up to six months and detect the things we need to detect, the drug traffickers, and illegal fishing.”

The uncrewed vessels use onboard technology to detect and record suspicious maritime activity, with information shared with boarder agencies to support monitoring and investigations.