Surveillance cameras will be deployed in the North Sea from 1 January to secure critical offshore energy infrastructure, Belgian Minister of Justice and the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) announced on Friday.
The surveillance equipment will include 'smart' fixed cameras which automatically recognise sea vessels, as well as mobile cameras which can be installed on ships, aircraft, and drones. Only the Federal Government will be able to monitor and control the cameras.
Van Quickenborne noted that the cameras will be used to protect core offshore energy infrastructure such as gas pipelines and wind turbines, including the planned Princess Elisabeth 'energy island' located some 45 kilometres off the Belgian coast.
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To ensure compliance with EU privacy laws, the cameras and their software will be purposefully designed to accord with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In particular, they will maintain records of how the collected data is processed, stored, and viewed.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, many European countries significantly increased their security operations in the North Sea. These were intensified following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in September, which led to mutual accusations of blame from Russia and the West.
