SIRAMIS is a project coordinated by the European Defence Agency standing for Signature Response Analysis on Multi Influence Sensors, in this programme participates Sociedad Anónima de Electrónica Submarina (SAES) as international reference. As most of the international trade is carried out through marine routes, it is important to evaluate the vulnerability of the merchant vessel fleet to sea mines in order to be able to limit the potential exposure to this threat.
In this project, the participating nations pool their measurement and analysis capabilities to improve their knowledge on the underwater signatures of merchant vessels and understanding of the near field ship signature in relevant and realistic scenarios. The project involves a series of recording campaigns performed near shipping lanes in the national waters of the participants, using various multi-influence measurement systems. The data analysis will help to separate the effect of the differences between the measurement systems and the environments from the features specific to the measured ships. A further analysis will investigate the relationship between the merchant vessels signatures and their characteristics.
The clear dual nature of this project should be stressed, it is widely known that marine environment is a precious heritage that must be protected, preserved and, where feasible, restored with the aim of maintaining biodiversity and providing diverse and dynamic oceans and seas in order to keep them healthy and clean. All these aspects are contained in Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy, it establishes a framework within which Member States shall take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment, this Directive will be mandatory by the year 2020, for that purpose, marine strategies shall be developed and implemented. Each Member State shall, in respect of each marine region or subregion concerned, develop a marine strategy for its marine waters consisting of preparation (initial assessment, determination of good environmental status, establishment of environmental targets and monitoring programmes) and programmes of measures.
Knowledge of these data, will enable us to assemble all the knowledge on tools and methods based on nontraditional sources of acoustic noise, electric or magnetic fields and pressure and seismic changes, as well as develop standards and equipment to ensure maximum efficiency in measures to be taken by the Society, so that the international community can move forward in solidarity to protect the underwater environment.
Read the full paper here (in Spanish):