Drone catches polluting ship

A cargo ship using fuel oil which failed to meet China’s sulfur emission standard was caught by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration this week.

It was the first time a ship had been caught emitting excessive sulfur and the first time the administration had used a drone to monitor emissions.

On Monday, maritime safety officers on patrol in waters near the Pudong New Area noticed the Lady XX, from Panama, emitting black smoke. They activated detection equipments to check the smoke and also deployed a drone with an emission-monitoring system.

In a few minutes, results from both systems suggested the Lady XX was using fuel which contained more sulfur than China's standard whose maximum was 0.5 percent.

The cargo ship was then ordered to dock and officers took samples of its fuel. Subsequent tests confirmed the initial findings. 

The case is still under investigation.