As every year, the coordinated aerial surveillance operation OSCAR-MED 2025 enabled the partner countries of the RAMOGE Agreement to pool their resources to monitor a defined area of the Mediterranean and prevent any illegal pollutant discharges.
For this edition, Italian Coast Guards coordinated a particularly structured mission aimed at pre-identifying vessels potentially likely to discharge pollutants through maritime traffic analysis and verifying pollution alerts detected by satellite. This approach allowed for the implementation of a comprehensive surveillance program, mobilizing both air and naval assets, ready to intervene promptly. Over the two days of operation, 13 vessels were monitored and one potential pollution alert was verified.
No pollution was detected during the operation. Nevertheless, these exercises remain essential to test coordination between different assets, verify the effectiveness of communications, and validate operational procedures, including potential legal follow-up.
At the conclusion of the exercise, the delegations met to share feedback and propose new perspectives to improve these operations and increase their frequency. These concrete surveillance initiatives are essential to strengthen the protection of the Mediterranean and foster cooperation between France, Monaco, and Italy.
