Gulf Space Case Study

Valencian company Orbital EOS has partnered with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) to enhance oil spill monitoring and environmental care in Saudi Arabia’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. This renewed collaboration builds on Orbital EOS’s cutting-edge satellite imagery analysis technology and expands to include additional services such as vessel detection, drift modeling, and advanced environmental crisis prevention.

The contract, spanning the next year, positions SIRC’s marine environmental care department (SAIL) as a leading authority in situational awareness and response to marine environmental threats across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia’s maritime environments face persistent challenges, including:

1. Oil Spill Pollution: Frequent spills from oil and gas activities threaten marine ecosystems in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
2. Illegal Discharges: Vessels dumping contaminated oils exacerbate environmental degradation.
3. Lack of Predictive Tools: Limited capability to forecast and mitigate environmental crises before they escalate.
4. Emergency Response Gaps: Existing systems lacked the efficiency and precision to manage emergency situations in real time.

These issues necessitated an advanced solution combining cutting-edge technology with regional expertise.

The Solution

Orbital EOS introduced its AI-powered solution, Gaia, designed to detect oil and derivative spills with unprecedented accuracy. Key components of the collaboration include:

1. Satellite-Based Oil Spill Monitoring: Leveraging ESA’s Sentinel-1 public satellite imagery, Gaia analyzes over 200,000 image fragments to detect spills with nearly 98% accuracy.
2. Expanded Services:
   • Detection of illegal vessel discharges.
   • Development of drift models to predict the movement of spills.
   • Deployment of a comprehensive surveillance system to anticipate environmental crises.
3. Round-the-Clock Emergency Monitoring: Orbital EOS’s 24/7 monitoring service demonstrated its value by preventing a catastrophic spill from the tanker Sounion, showcasing the system’s ability to deliver real-time, actionable insights.
4. EOS Viewer Platform: A global-scale detection and analysis system integrating Earth observation and geospatial analysis for oil spills.
5. Custom Training for Regional Relevance: Gaia was fine-tuned using insights from experts with decades of experience in oil spill analysis, ensuring its predictions are region-specific and contextually accurate.

The Results

The partnership between Orbital EOS and SIRC has delivered measurable benefits:

1. Enhanced Environmental Monitoring: SAIL has become a benchmark for marine environmental care in the Middle East, equipped with one of the most advanced monitoring systems in the world.
2. Increased Detection Accuracy: Gaia’s 98% accuracy in identifying oil spills significantly outperforms traditional methods, reducing false positives and improving response efficiency.
3. Proactive Crisis Management: The predictive capabilities of the new surveillance system empower stakeholders to act swiftly, mitigating potential environmental disasters.
4. Global Recognition: Orbital EOS’s innovative solutions continue to gain international acclaim, cementing its position as a leader in environmental satellite-based technologies.
5. Sustainability Impact: The system supports Saudi Arabia’s broader sustainability goals by promoting responsible practices in the oil and gas industry and protecting marine ecosystems.