Provision of satellite images and value-added products for maritime surveillance based on SAR and very high resolution optical sensors

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) invites tenders (EMSA/2026/OP/0002, TED ref. 86/2026 306092-2026) for quasi‑real‑time provision of satellite imagery and value‑added maritime surveillance products based on SAR and very high resolution optical sensors. The procurement is a framework agreement with an estimated total value of €66,000,000 for up to 48 months, split into two lots (Lot 1 SAR services €38,000,000; Lot 2 VHR optical licences and services €28,000,000). Mandatory operational requirements include QRT ground station access, satellite licence authorisations, 24/7 service desk, strict technical and quality standards for VAPs, and EMSA ownership rights for delivered products, with awards on a best price‑quality ratio. Submissions must be made electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by 23 June 2026 16:00 Europe/Lisbon, with questions accepted until 15 June 2026 23:59 Europe/Lisbon.

What it funds

Framework contracts for acquisition, licence supply, downlink, processing and delivery of Earth Observation imagery and value-added products (VAPs) for maritime surveillance based on SAR and very high resolution optical sensors, including quasi real-time (QRT) services, VAP analyses (vessel/wake/feature/activity/change detection, pollution detection and polluter ID), service set-up and agreed enhancements.

Who can apply

Commercial EO service providers, satellite licence holders or consortia (single or joint tenders). Public entities or international organisations may participate where permitted by the procurement documents; subcontracting and reliance on third-party capacities are allowed subject to prior disclosure and approval.

Estimated total value:Up to €66,000,000 in total across two lots: Lot 1 (SAR acquisition and processing) €38,000,000; Lot 2 (VHR optical licences and services) €28,000,000. Contract duration 24 months with possible extensions; payments based on specific contracts and quality/delivery penalties apply ¹.

1. 1Deadlines: tender published 05/05/2026; main electronic submission deadline 23/06/2026 16:00 (Lisbon). (An earlier metadata date 2026-01-01 appears in source but primary TED deadline is 23/06/2026.)
2. 2How to apply: submit electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal e-Submission (EU Login required).
3. 3Mandatory tender documents: Tender Specifications (Appendix I–VIII), Appendix I selection criteria, Appendix II quality requirements, Appendix III financial offer, Tenderer Checklist and other annexes as listed in the procurement notice.

Award method:Lot 1 multiple framework with cascade ranking; Lot 2 multiple sourcing (no cascade). Contracts are awarded on the basis of best price-quality ratio; quality requirements and strict QRT delivery times apply. Tenderers must provide evidence of licences/ground-station access, QRT coverage masks and technical capacity as requested in the appendices.

Footnotes

1. 1Full procurement documents, submission instructions and tender notice are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal EMSA Tender EMSA/2026/OP/0002

Basic procurement facts

Procuring authority:European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). Procedure identifier: EMSA/2026/OP/0002. TED reference: 86/2026 306092-2026. Procurement type: Call for tenders, open procedure for two lots. Submission method: electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal e-Submission (EU Login required). Deadlines: deadline for receipt of tenders 23/06/2026 16:00 Europe/Lisbon. Public opening (remote) scheduled 24/06/2026 10:00 Europe/Lisbon. Contract form: Framework contract(s).

Total estimated maximum budget:Estimated total value for the procedure €66,000,000 (exclusive of VAT): Lot 1 (SAR services) €38,000,000; Lot 2 (VHR optical licences and services) €28,000,000.

What this procurement buys (scope and structure)

Objective:to procure satellite images and value-added products (VAPs) for maritime surveillance and pollution detection based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors and very-high-resolution (VHR) optical sensors. The contract is split into two Lots and multiple service modules. Lot 1: provision of services for the acquisition and processing of SAR satellite data (QRT acquisition, downlink, processing, delivery and VAP generation). Lot 2: provision of licences and services for the acquisition and processing of VHR optical satellite data (licences + QRT and archive delivery and VAPs). The services include ground station operations, QRT downlink, processing chains, value-added analytics (vessel detection, enriched vessel detection, wake detection, feature detection, activity detection, change detection, spill detection and classification across MARPOL Annexes), service desk, planning and ordering interfaces and secure delivery through Axway/EODC.

Contract architecture and ordering principles:Lot 1 will be implemented as a multiple framework contract with a cascade ranking (EMSA will contact the highest-ranked capable contractor first for QRT orders and cascade to the next ranked contractor if the higher ranked cannot fulfil a particular request). Lot 2 will be implemented as multiple sourcing framework contracts (no fixed cascade; EMSA will award orders to the contractor that best meets the request considering capability, price and KPI performance). Contracts use three modules: Module Service Set-up (initial integration and testing), Module Operations (service delivery, QRT and archive), Module Service Enhancements (EICD updates and other enhancements). Specific contracts (individual orders) will be issued under the framework contract.

Key technical & service requirements (high level)

EMSA published detailed tender specifications (Appendix II), selection criteria (Appendix I), financial offer templates (Appendix III), EICD technical interface definitions (Appendix VI) and other operational appendices (service level management, planning and ordering). Minimum and contractual requirements are strict: QRT 24/7/365 service, direct downlink option, delivery times (maximum delivery times per EMSA product classes defined in minutes for Image products and VAPs), orthorectified outputs, pansharpening capabilities for optical missions offering panchromatic + multispectral, no use of vessel traffic layers as input for core detection products (VDS, EVS, WDS, FDS, EFS), ownership and licensing clauses that grant EMSA ownership of VAPs and broad distribution rights for non-commercial use. EMSA defines product classes (SAR EMSA classes VHR1/VHR2/HR1/HR2/MR1 with sub-classes by area; Optical EMSA classes VHR0/VHR1/VHR2 with sub-classes by area) and QRT coverage masks per ground station must be supplied in ESRI shapefile and KML formats.

Value-added products (VAPs) required (examples defined in Appendix II and Appendix VII):vessel detection (VDS), enriched vessel detection (EVS), wake detection (WDS), feature detection (FDS), enriched feature detection (EFS), activity detection (ACT), change detection (CDS), and pollution/polluter detection and identification across MARPOL Annexes I-V and marine litter (OSN). Each VAP has technical and quality criteria, confidence levels, required outputs (polygons, attributes, clip images) and strict quality/penalty rules.

Delivery channels and interfaces:Primary delivery via Axway secure file transfer and the EMSA EODC Planning & Ordering interface (EICD schema). Contractors must provide SFTP endpoints, Axway connectivity and EODC integration (feasibility, planning, confirmation, task forms, downlink reporting).

Who can apply (eligibility and applicant types)

Eligible applicant types:the tender is open to commercial providers of Earth Observation services (space data providers and downstream service companies), including startups, SMEs, large enterprises, satellite operators, system integrators, data processors, geospatial service providers; public and private research institutes, universities, non-profit organisations and international organisations where they can demonstrate the required licences, ground station capability and technical expertise. Joint bids and consortia are explicitly permitted; if submitting a joint tender the group leader must be designated and members are jointly and severally liable. Subcontracting is allowed but subcontractors above certain thresholds must be declared and provide commitment letters.

Geographic eligibility and beneficiary scope:primary scope is EU activity and EMSA user base, but delivery and services must be global (EMSA orders EO products for any sea/coastal area worldwide, except where national restrictions apply). Tenderers established in EU Member States, EEA/EFTA countries, EU candidate and potential candidate countries and selected partner countries named in the procurement documentation may participate. EMSA stakeholders (for distribution) include EU Member States, EFTA, candidate countries and specific third-country users under EMSA mandate. Participation by international organisations is permitted where allowed by the tender documents. Tenderers must ensure licences permit distribution and must disclose any national restrictions on image acquisition or distribution.

Funding type and contract model

Primary financial mechanism:procurement / tender (services). Contracts are Framework Agreements (FWCs): Lot 1: multiple framework contract(s) with cascade; Lot 2: multiple sourcing framework contract(s) without re-opening of competition. Nature of contract: service contract(s) for EO acquisitions, processing, analysis and delivery; Lot 2 includes licence procurement for VHR optical imagery. Award method: best price-quality ratio (quality 50% / price 50%).

Consortium and application structure

Consortium requirement:single tenderer may apply or consortia/joint tenders are allowed. Tenderers relying on capacities of other entities (including subcontractors) must provide commitment letters. Entities whose capacities are relied upon to fulfil selection criteria must be identified and evidence provided. Subcontractors with a known individual share above 10% must be declared. Joint tenders require an Agreement/Power of Attorney; all members must provide required exclusion and selection evidence. Only one PIC (Participant Identification Code) per organisation must be used for the submission.

Application format and templates:Applicants must complete EMSA templates: Appendix I Selection Criteria (technical & professional capacity by staff and by tenderer), Appendix II Quality Criteria and Technical Requirements (compliance matrix, minimum and advantageous criteria and detailed technical responses), Appendix III Financial Offer (price grids per EMSA Product Class and evaluation scenarios), Tenderer Checklist, Legal Entities and Bank Accounts Form, Declaration of Honour, Authorised Signatory Form and other mandatory forms (commitment letters for subcontractors/entities). Tenderers must not modify the templates except to fill the description and evidence fields. The full set of documents is downloadable from the opportunity page on the F&T Portal F&T opportunity page. ¹

1. 1Complete Appendix I (Selection Criteria) with details on proposed Project Manager, Senior EO Specialist and IT Technical Manager and their project-level experience; provide CVs/evidence on request.
2. 2Complete Appendix II (Quality Criteria and Technical Requirements) – this is the core technical bid: mandatory minimum requirements must be met; advantageous criteria will be scored.
3. 3Complete Appendix III (Financial Offer) – price grid for the requested scenarios, prices exclusive of VAT in EUR with up to 2 decimal places.
4. 4Submit signed cover letter, Tenderer Checklist, Legal Entities and Bank Accounts Form, Declaration of Honour (exclusion criteria), Authorised Signatory Form and any supporting financial statements requested.
5. 5If joint tender or subcontracting: include Agreement/Power of Attorney (joint tender), list of identified subcontractors, commitment letters from subcontractors/entities on whose capacity the tenderer relies.
6. 6Provide supporting evidence for satellite licences/authorisations and ground station visibility masks per offered ground station in GIS ESRI shapefile and KML (required for evaluation where applicable).

Evaluation, award criteria and scoring

Award formula and weighting:EMSA uses Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) with quality 50% / price 50%. Quality is composed of three sub-criteria: Q1 Service performance and capabilities (30%), Q2 VAPs for maritime surveillance and pollution detection (15%), Q3 Management and coordination (5%). Price is evaluated using defined Module Operation price scenarios (48% weight) and Module Service Enhancements scenarios (2% weight). Tenderers must reach a minimum quality threshold (50% of the quality score) to be considered and a minimum overall score of 50% for award eligibility.

Selection/exclusion and minimums:tenderers must pass exclusion checks (Declaration of Honour), economic/financial minimums (annual turnover required: minimum €5,000,000 for the last two years), and technical capacity minimums in Appendix I (staff experience, mission capabilities, licences and ground station coverage). Non-compliance with mandatory minimum or contractual requirements leads to rejection. Advantageous criteria influence quality scoring.

Application stages, timing and success odds

Application stages:Single-stage tendering procedure: submission of full technical and financial offer in one step through e-Submission. EMSA may request clarifications during evaluation and may request additional evidence (e.g., letters of authorisation from satellite licence providers, CVs, diplomas).

Public opening and evaluation timetable:Publication on TED and the F&T Portal 05/05/2026; tender deadline 23/06/2026 16:00 Lisbon; remote public opening 24/06/2026 10:00 Lisbon. EMSA intends to sign Framework Service Contracts from September 2026 (subject to evaluation and negotiations).

Number of stages required:1 (single-stage submission) with possible follow-up clarifications/evidence requests by EMSA. Specific contracts (orders) will then be requested under the awarded framework contract(s).

Estimated competition and success rates:No formal public success-rate percentage is published. EMSA will award up to 5 contractors per Lot. This is a highly specialised technical procurement (satellite licences, QRT acquisition and processing capabilities), therefore competition typically involves global EO data providers and integrated service suppliers; success depends on meeting strict minimums and scoring highly on quality and price.

Financial and contractual conditions

Type of remuneration:payment for services (service contracts). Contractors invoice against specific contracts; EMSA pays in EUR, without VAT where exemptions apply (EMSA is an EU body, VAT rules explained in the tender documents). Price revision provisions apply as defined in the FWC. Liquidated damages, price reductions and quality control coefficients apply for delayed or low-quality deliverables as specified in Appendix II. Performance guarantees may be required per specific contract if indicated in the FWC.

Co-funding requirement:Not required. This is a procurement of services — the contractor is paid by EMSA according to the agreed prices in Appendix III and specific contracts. No matching-funding is requested from applicants.

Who does what and IP / data rights

EMSA ownership and distribution rights:EMSA obtains ownership of VAPs and clip images (thumbnails and screenshots) delivered under the FWC. EMSA may distribute VAPs and clip images to EMSA stakeholders, contractors and the public for non-commercial purposes, subject to the Conditions of Use and national restrictions. Satellite source imagery rights differ by Lot: Lot 1 imagery licences may be managed by EMSA and are out of scope for acquisition in the tender; Lot 2 includes procurement of optical licences and the tenderer must grant EMSA broad use and sublicensing rights for EMSA’s mandate (including making licences available to EMSA contractors for development and QC).

IPR and pre-existing rights:Contractors must declare pre-existing rights incorporated in results and provide licences or assignments as required. EMSA acquires rights to exploit results as described in the tender and FWC. Contractors must deliver source materials, metadata and enable EMSA to modify, distribute and reuse results for EMSA missions.

Operational and technical evidence required (highlights)

1. 1Authorisation letters from satellite licence providers for each non-Sentinel mission proposed, listing allowed ground stations and coverage masks; visibility masks (ascending/descending intersections) must be supplied in ESRI shapefile and KML formats.
2. 2Ground station ownership and capability descriptions, up-time and downlink DMAX figures, minimum tasking times and priority policies.
3. 3Proof of QRT delivery capabilities (evidence of operational QRT delivery in prior contracts; EMSA may request example reports during evaluation).
4. 4Technical descriptions of processing chains, geolocation and orthorectification methods, pansharpening algorithms, cloud cover assessment methods, and VAP algorithms (detection, confidence scoring, false positive reduction, ancillary datasets used).
5. 5Service continuity and contingency plans (24/7 service desk, network redundancy, Axway/EODC deliveries, service SLA management).
6. 6Security measures including ISO27001 or equivalent if available (advantageous).
7. 7Quality management plan, project management plan, and QA/QC procedures (ISO 9001 advantageous).

Submission practicalities and support

Registration and portal access:Tenderers must have an EU Login account with 2-factor authentication (required after 30 June 2026) and a valid Participant Identification Code (PIC) where required. All tenders must be submitted exclusively via the e-Submission application in the F&T Portal. Files to be uploaded must meet system size and format constraints (e.g., attachments < 50 MB; up to 200 files per submission). The tenderer must follow the e-Submission naming and technical guidance available on the portal.

Questions & Answers:Questions are submitted via the F&T Portal Q&A function. EMSA sets a cut-off for contracting authority reply (contracting authority is not bound to reply to questions submitted after 15/06/2026 23:59 Europe/Lisbon). Any formal updates, clarifications and corrigenda to the procurement documents are published on the F&T opportunity page.

Templates and application / evaluation documents (what to complete)

Main EMSA templates and attachments that must be completed and uploaded with the offer (all are mandatory unless stated otherwise):

1. 1Appendix I Selection Criteria technical and professional capacity (complete Table 1 and Table 2): team CVs, project references, satellite/ground station capability evidence.
2. 2Appendix II Quality Criteria and Technical Requirements (complete compliance matrix and provide detailed descriptions for each requirement and advantageous criteria). Minimum requirements are mandatory; advantageous criteria are scored.
3. 3Appendix III Financial Offer (Lot-specific price grids and price scenarios must be filled in – prices in EUR excl. VAT, max two decimals). Price scenarios are used for evaluation and must be completed exactly as requested.
4. 4Tenderer’s Checklist (signed) and signed cover letter (authorised signatory).
5. 5Legal Entities and Bank Accounts Form (and supporting documents).
6. 6Declaration of Honour (DoH) regarding exclusion grounds (signed).
7. 7Authorized Signatory Form (signed) and power of attorney if required.
8. 8List of identified subcontractors (if applicable) and commitment letters from subcontractors or entities on whose capacities the tenderer relies.
9. 9Any requested financial statements (simplified financial statement) demonstrating minimum turnover requirements.
10. 10Supporting evidence for satellite provider authorisations and visibility masks (letters from licence providers and GIS files).

The Tenderer Checklist summarises the required deliverables and confirms tender completeness; EMSA may request an original hardcopy of the offer and supporting DoH evidence from the winning tenderer after award.

Practical evaluation risks and pitfalls (observations from the specification)

High-risk items for non-compliance:failure to provide licence provider letters and ground station visibility masks in the required GIS formats; partial or missing answers in the Appendix II compliance matrix; not providing required QRT capability evidence for offered satellite missions; not meeting minimum delivery times and QRT maximum delivery times; using AIS or other vessel traffic layers as primary input for core detection VAPs (explicitly forbidden); failing to provide required security or quality management evidence where specified; non‑completion of the financial templates exactly as requested. Partial compliance on minimum or contractual requirements leads to rejection.

Portal and technical notes:Use Chrome or Firefox, respect e-Submission system limits on file size and number of attachments, and ensure attachment filenames follow the e-Submission System Requirements. PIC is mandatory for the organisation; ensure EU Login 2-step verification is enabled by 30 June 2026.

Summary: What is this opportunity about and how to explain it

This tender is EMSA’s strategic procurement to secure quasi-real-time satellite imagery and operational value-added products for maritime surveillance worldwide, with priority over Europe and EMSA user areas. It seeks suppliers capable of providing robust QRT SAR acquisition and processing chains (Lot 1) and VHR optical licences and QRT/archived optical services (Lot 2) under strict technical, quality, timeliness and contractual requirements. EMSA requires 24/7/365 operations, secure data transfers, a planning and ordering interface with EODC/EICD conformity, and VAPs that support pollution detection, vessel and activity detection, change detection and related analytics. EMSA will award multiple framework contracts (up to five contractors per Lot), and will allocate QRT orders using a cascade for Lot 1 and best-capability/price for Lot 2. The procurement is technical and operationally demanding: successful bidders will demonstrate existing operational licences/authorisations, ground station capabilities, proven QRT delivery evidence, mature VAP processing chains and the capacity to comply with EMSA’s SLAs, quality regimes and data distribution rules. The procedure uses standard EMSA templates and a single-stage electronic submission. If you are a space-data provider, value-added processor or an integrator with licences, ground-station access and 24/7 processing and secure delivery chains, prepare a full submission completing Appendices I, II and III, attach licence letters and ground station coverage masks in GIS formats and submit via e-Submission by 23 June 2026, 16:00 Lisbon time.

Key call-to-action:register and prepare e-Submission well in advance, collect supporting licence letters from satellite operators (explicitly required for non-Sentinel missions), prepare GIS coverage masks (ESRI shapefile + KML) for offered ground stations, complete the Appendix II compliance matrix with explicit descriptions and flowcharts requested (processing workflows, detection workflows, contingency measures), and complete the financial grids precisely as requested in Appendix III.

Footnotes

1. 1Official opportunity and all downloadable tender documents are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal - Tender details page for EMSA/2026/OP/0002.

Opportunity Overview

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is issuing a call for tenders for the provision of satellite images and value-added products for maritime surveillance based on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Very High Resolution (VHR) optical sensors. This is a framework agreement procurement procedure with an estimated total value of €66,000,000 covering a maximum contract duration of 48 months. The tender is structured into two separate lots, each addressing different satellite data acquisition and processing services. ¹

Procedure Identifier:EMSA/2026/OP/0002

TED Reference:86/2026 306092-2026

Lead Contracting Authority:European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Lisbon, Portugal

Procedure Type:Open procedure with electronic submission

Key Deadlines

Applicants must be aware of the following critical dates for this tender:

• Deadline for receipt of tenders: 23 June 2026 at 16:00 Europe/Lisbon time
• Date and time of public opening: 24 June 2026 at 10:00 Europe/Lisbon time
• Deadline for submitting questions to the contracting authority: 15 June 2026 at 23:59 Europe/Lisbon time
• TED publication date: 05 May 2026

Tender Structure and Lots

The tender is divided into two distinct lots, each with separate estimated values and technical requirements:

Lot 1: Provision of services for the acquisition and processing of SAR satellite data:Estimated value: €38,000,000. This lot focuses on Synthetic Aperture Radar data acquisition and processing services for maritime surveillance. Tenderers must demonstrate capability to acquire and process SAR satellite data in quasi-real-time (QRT) from specified satellite missions including Sentinel-1C or Sentinel-1D and at least one additional satellite from the following: Radarsat-2, TerraSAR-X/Tandem-X, PAZ-1, ICEYE, or Cosmo SkyMed. ²

Lot 2: Provision of licenses and services for the acquisition and processing of VHR optical satellite data:Estimated value: €28,000,000. This lot addresses Very High Resolution optical satellite data provision and processing. Tenderers must be able to provide licenses and QRT services from at least two VHR optical satellites with independent acquisition capability. Optical satellites must have ground spatial distance (GSD) at nadir of 0.3 to 1.5 meters, representing the highest commercially available resolution.

Both lots are structured as framework agreements without reopening of competition. The award method for both lots is best price-quality ratio, meaning evaluation will consider both financial and technical quality factors.

Eligibility and Who Can Apply

This is an open procedure, meaning any legal entity can submit a tender. However, applicants must meet specific financial and technical capacity requirements to be considered for evaluation.

Financial Capacity Requirements:Tenderers must demonstrate stable financial position and economic capacity to perform the contract. While specific minimum turnover thresholds are not explicitly stated in the available documentation, applicants should be prepared to provide financial statements for the last two years demonstrating their ability to execute a contract of this scale. ³

Technical and Professional Capacity:Tenderers must provide evidence of technical capability through key personnel and organizational capacity. Required key personnel include a Project Manager with at least 5 years of experience in Earth Observation project management, a Senior EO Specialist with at least 3 years of experience in technical EO projects, and an IT Technical Manager with at least 3 years of experience implementing and maintaining real-time systems including data processing and distribution. All key personnel must demonstrate C1 or B2 level English language proficiency (verbal and written).

Satellite Mission Authorization:For Lot 1, tenderers must provide letters from satellite license providers confirming authorization to acquire and process SAR data from offered satellite missions. For Lot 2, similar authorization letters are required for VHR optical satellite missions. These letters must explicitly identify the satellite name and list ground stations covered by the authorization. Additionally, tenderers must provide visibility masks in GIS format (shapefiles and KML) for each proposed ground station, covering both ascending and descending passes.

Ground Station Capability:Tenderers must operate or have access to at least one ground station with QRT capability. Ground stations can be owned by the tenderer or operated through partnership agreements. Tenderers must provide detailed descriptions of ground station facilities, ownership, mission capabilities, network infrastructure, and for partner stations, identification of ownership and duration of agreements.

Minimum Technical Requirements

All tenders must comply with comprehensive minimum requirements. Non-compliance with any minimum requirement will result in tender rejection. Key minimum requirements include:

• Ability to provide Earth Observation products and services for any area worldwide, excluding restrictions imposed by governmental bodies
• Provision of QRT coverage maps for each offered ground station in electronic formats (ESRI GIS Shapefile and KML Google Earth)
• Confirmation of ability to deliver EO products 24/7, 365 days per year
• Confirmation of highest commercially available priority status for satellite data acquisition and downlink
• Ability to acquire, process and deliver 3 consecutive standard scenes within QRT maximum delivery time
• Ability to acquire, process and deliver multiple products from different satellites acquired within less than 5 minutes
• No limitations on the number of detections per Value-Added Product type in one image
• No limitations on ordering different types and classification levels of VAPs in the same EO service
• For Lot 2: Ability to provide orthorectified products in QRT and pansharpened products where applicable
• Confirmation that vessel traffic layers (AIS, LRIT) shall not be used for processing and production of vessel detection, enriched vessel detection, wake detection, feature detection, and enriched feature detection services
• Ability to analyze and detect changes between two images for change detection services
• EMSA ownership of Value-Added Products and clip images, with permission to distribute for non-commercial purposes within EMSA's mandate

Value-Added Products and Services

Tenderers must be capable of producing and delivering comprehensive Value-Added Products (VAPs) for maritime surveillance. These include:

VAP Level-1 Products:Vessel Detection Service (VDS), Wake Detection Service (WDS), Feature Detection Service (FDS), and Pollution Substances Detection and Polluter Identification (OSN)

VAP Level-2 Products:Enriched Vessel Detection Service (EVS), Enriched Feature Detection Service (EFS), Activity Detection Service (ACT), and Change Detection Service (CDS)

Pollution detection services must cover all MARPOL annexes including oil spills (Annex I), noxious liquid substances in bulk (Annex II), harmful substances in packaged form (Annex III), sewage from ships (Annex IV), garbage from ships (Annex V), and marine litter. Tenderers must describe detailed methodologies for each detection service, including algorithms, confidence level assignment methods, false positive reduction techniques, use of ancillary data, and limitations.

Quality and Performance Standards

Tenders will be evaluated on quality criteria including service performance and capabilities, VAP production methodologies, and project management. Tenderers must provide detailed descriptions of:

• Service chain architecture for delivering QRT services, including networking, telecommunications infrastructure, hosting environment, and parallel processing capabilities
• Image processing workflow flowcharts showing main processing steps
• Geometric correction methods and algorithms with demonstrated accuracy (with and without ground control points)
• Geo-referencing methods for point-based, line-based, and polygon-based geographical elements
• Contingency measures for failure of processing chains, network links, data transmission, antennas, ground stations, and service desk contact points
• Security measures covering awareness, prevention, detection, monitoring, disaster recovery, and continuous improvement (ISO 27001 certification is advantageous)
• Cloud cover estimation methodology and confidence level calculation (for Lot 2)
• Digital Elevation Model (DEM) usage for orthorectification (for Lot 2)
• SAR Wind and Wave product production methods including algorithms and ancillary data usage (for Lot 1)
• Methodology for color balancing in composite optical images to ensure uniform appearance (for Lot 2)

Planning and Ordering Process

Contractors must comply with EMSA's planning and ordering procedures as detailed in Appendix V of the tender specifications. Key requirements include:

Request Types and Response Times:Contractors must handle three types of requests with specified response times. Routine requests require 1 working day for acknowledgement, 2 working days for feasibility, and 1 working day for confirmation. Short-Notice requests require immediate phone call acknowledgement, 2 hours for feasibility, and 1 hour for confirmation. Emergency requests require immediate phone call acknowledgement, 1 hour for feasibility, and 1 hour for confirmation.

24/7 Service Desk:Contractors must provide a 24/7, 365 days per year service desk for emergency and short-notice planning and ordering, as well as issue management.

EODC System Usage:Contractors must use EMSA's Earth Observation Data Centre (EODC) for all planning and ordering processes, including uploading and downloading planning files, storing planning information, confirming EO services, and generating task forms.

Planning File Formats:Contractors must support multiple planning file formats including EMSA's planning files (EICD format), ACP files for Radarsat-2 (Lot 1 only), and Sentinel-1 planning files as defined by ESA (Lot 1 only).

Ordering Planning Types

For Lot 2 (optical data), contractors must support multiple ordering planning types without imposing limitations on combinations:

• Cloud Cover Threshold: Ensures delivered images have cloud coverage below a defined threshold (default 30% maximum cloud cover)
• Cloud Cover Priority Area: Allows specification of a priority sub-area within the AOI that must be cloud-free even if overall AOI exceeds threshold
• Data Take Opportunity (DTO): Allows multiple acquisitions over the same area to maximize delivery probability, with minimum 2 different acquisitions required
• Tip and Cue: Allows last-minute adjustment of acquisition footprint before cut-off time for flexible sensor satellites

Contractors must not charge EMSA for EO services that cannot be delivered due to cloud cover exceeding the specified threshold.

Product Delivery and Specifications

All delivered EO products must comply with EMSA's Earth Observation Interface Control Document (EICD) specifications detailed in Appendix VI. Products must include:

Image Products:For Lot 1: SAR Level-€1Bgeo-referenced images (full resolution), SAR Wind and Wave products, Quality Notifications, and Quality Reports. For Lot 2: Optical geo-referenced images (full resolution), Quality Notifications, and Quality Reports.

Quality Assurance:Contractors must provide cloud cover values for each delivered optical image, calculate coverage compliance, determine usable area, and assess product quality and accuracy. Quality Reports must include coverage compliance and usable area information for delivered services, or cancellation and anomaly notifications for non-delivered services.

Pixel Bit Depth:For Lot 2, contractors should describe capability to provide optical products with 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit pixel depth.

Submission Requirements

All submissions must be made electronically through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Applicants must have an EU Login account with 2-factor authentication enabled (mandatory as of 30 June 2026). Submissions must include:

• Completed Appendix I: Selection Criteria technical and professional capacity, including information on key personnel and satellite mission capabilities
• Completed Appendix II: Quality Criteria and Technical requirements, including compliance matrix and detailed descriptions of all technical capabilities
• Completed Appendix III: Financial Offer
• Completed Appendix IV: Service Level Management Procedure
• Completed Appendix V: Planning and Ordering Procedure
• Supporting evidence documents including satellite license provider authorization letters, ground station visibility masks in GIS format, and any relevant certifications (ISO 27001, ISO 9001:2015)

File attachments must not exceed 50 MB each, and the maximum number of documents per tender is 200 files. Supported file types are specified within the system requirements linked to the procedure. Tenderers should use the formatting styles provided in the Word document templates and avoid submitting additional documents unless expressly requested.

Evaluation Criteria

Tenders will be evaluated in the following sequence:

1. 1Compliance with minimum requirements: Only tenders meeting all minimum requirements will proceed to quality evaluation
2. 2Quality assessment: Tenders will be scored on advantageous requirements including service performance capabilities, VAP production methodologies, and project management plans
3. 3Financial evaluation: Compliant tenders will be ranked by price-quality ratio to determine the best value for money

EMSA reserves the right to request additional supporting evidence during evaluation, such as reports demonstrating QRT service delivery capabilities or verification of submitted information by contacting previous employers or satellite license providers.

Contract Terms and Conditions

The framework agreement will have a maximum duration of 48 months. Key contractual obligations include:

• All technical and professional capacity described in the tender becomes contractual obligation for the entire contract duration
• All minimum requirements remain fully applicable throughout contract implementation
• Contractors must comply with updated versions of Appendix V (Planning and Ordering Procedure) within one month of release, without entitlement to additional costs
• Contractors must maintain 24/7, 365 days per year service availability
• Contractors must store all planning and ordering information throughout the contract duration
• EMSA has ownership of Value-Added Products and clip images and may distribute them for non-commercial purposes within EMSA's mandate
• Contractors must grant EMSA permission to export and display satellite images for non-commercial purposes to EMSA stakeholders
• Contractors must authorize EMSA to make satellite image licenses available to EMSA contractors for application development, validation, testing, and quality control purposes

Important Considerations for Applicants

Prospective tenderers should be aware of the following key points:

• This is a highly technical and demanding procurement requiring substantial operational infrastructure and satellite data access agreements
• Only capabilities that are fully operational at tender submission will be considered; future or pending capabilities will not be accepted
• Tenderers must demonstrate existing QRT service delivery capability, not theoretical capability
• The tender requires detailed technical documentation including flowcharts, algorithms, methodologies, and supporting evidence
• Satellite license provider authorization is mandatory and must be obtained before tender submission
• Ground station visibility masks in GIS format are required for each proposed ground station
• The evaluation process is rigorous and EMSA reserves extensive rights to verify submitted information
• Tenderers should carefully review all appendices (I through VIII) as they contain detailed specifications and requirements
• Questions must be submitted by 15 June 2026 to allow time for clarification before the 23 June 2026 submission deadline
• Tenderers should allow sufficient time for document preparation, as the compliance matrix alone contains over 200 individual requirements

Contact and Further Information

The complete tender documentation is available on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal at EU Funding and Tenders Portal. The specific tender page can be accessed using the procedure identifier EMSA/2026/OP/0002 or TED reference 86/2026 306092-2026. Tenderers can submit questions through the portal's Q&A section, and EMSA will respond to questions submitted before the 15 June 2026 deadline. For technical support with the submission system, the IT Helpdesk is available through the portal.

Footnotes

1. 1The framework agreement structure allows EMSA to place specific orders under the contract terms without reopening competition, providing operational flexibility for maritime surveillance activities.
2. 2Sentinel-1 is a European satellite mission operated by ESA and Copernicus, while other satellites listed are commercial missions requiring specific license agreements with their operators.
3. 3Similar EU procurement procedures for satellite services typically require minimum annual turnover of €5,000,000 to €10,000,000 depending on contract value, though specific thresholds should be confirmed in the detailed tender specifications.