SeaNtinel

💎 Idea

SeaNtinel is a real-time maritime monitoring system designed to detect and prevent illegal fishing and environmental violations in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Current enforcement relies on expensive and limited patrols, while vessels engaged in illegal activity can simply disable AIS transponders to avoid detection.

Our solution combines real-time AIS tracking with satellite-based vessel detection and AI-based anomaly detection. By fusing multiple data sources, SeaNtinel identifies “dark vessels” (ships without AIS), detects suspicious movement patterns (loitering, repeated entry, irregular routes), and generates actionable alerts for authorities. The goal is to transform raw maritime signals into clear, enforcement-ready intelligence.

🛰️ EU space technologies

We leverage key European space assets:

• Sentinel-1 SAR imagery to detect vessels regardless of weather, cloud cover, or daylight
• Copernicus Programme providing continuous Earth observation data for environmental monitoring
• Real-time AIS data streams (vessel positioning signals) to track cooperative vessels

By combining satellite radar imaging with AIS signals, the system can detect inconsistencies (e.g. ships present in satellite data but missing from AIS), enabling detection of illegal or hidden activity at sea. This fusion significantly increases detection reliability and coverage over large marine areas.

🤼 EU Space for Water

We address the challenge of protecting and managing marine ecosystems and water resources.

SeaNtinel contributes by:

• Improving enforcement of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
• Detecting illegal fishing activities that harm marine biodiversity
• Supporting sustainable fisheries management through real-time monitoring
• Providing authorities with evidence-based insights for regulation and prosecution

This directly strengthens the protection of ocean ecosystems and improves the governance of EU maritime waters using space-based infrastructure.

🤼 Team

• Mihnea — Technical Co-founder, responsible for system development and backend infrastructure. Focused on building the real-time data processing and monitoring system.
• Mickael — Business Co-founder, responsible for strategy, partnerships, and market development. Focused on aligning the product with institutional and environmental stakeholders.
• Marian — Technical Co-founder, responsible for system architecture, AI integration, and computer vision pipeline. Focused on satellite data processing and detection models.