Can radar keep an eye on bilge oil spills

The Indian Coast Guard is setting up a radar system at Aguada. This system will detect suspicious looking craft and other marine activities. Radar sensors use Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) to reliably detect moving or stationary objects even in extreme weather conditions.

Hopefully it will also be able to detect those rogue ships that discharge their bilge water with polluting oil into the water around sending tar balls to our pristine beaches.

The Goa State Pollution  Control Board chairman Dr Simon de Souza says that only DG Shipping can act on such ships who discharge the oily waste after washing their bilge tanks.

The radar will be able to keep track of ships and small craft within a radius of 15 nautical miles thorugh out the day and night.

Rogue ships discharging their bilge water with waste oil into the sea off the coast of Goa could end up costing the state exchequer more than a terrorist strike could, since this phenomenon could blacken all the beaches and break the back of tourism in Goa.