One of the many advantages of the FEB-I is the ability to operate the barge autonomously when collecting oil in a coastal or nearshore environment, which dramatically reduces the attrition of personnel involved in maritime environmental protection operations and increases the overall efficiency of the operation.

​FLEX-FEB has increased the possibilities for autonomous operation of the barge(s) by developing a system based on capacitive sensors for detecting the oil content in the barge, which, in combination with a GPS/AIS system, navigation lights, CCTV camera and remote control of the skimmer, makes it possible to remotely monitor and control an operation with multiple barges.

Monitoring of the barge’s position and the oil content in the barge, as well as remote control of the oil skimmer and navigation lights, can be done via a dashboard that can be installed on a PC or tablet.