COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 22, 2026--
Saildrone today announced that the first four Saildrone Voyager USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) have been registered in Denmark and will operate under the Danish flag, marking the first time Saildrone USVs will operate under a national flag.
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The registration establishes a clear flag-state framework for Saildrone USVs operating internationally. Working together, Saildrone and the Danish Maritime Authority developed the regulatory framework necessary to register and operate unmanned surface vehicles under the Danish flag.
“We are pleased that Saildrone has chosen Denmark as the flag state for the company’s uncrewed vessels. This underscores that Denmark, as a leading maritime nation, has both the willingness and the ability to manage and certify future maritime technologies. At the same time, the registration serves as a strong example of the work carried out through the DMA Regulatory Future Lab, where we collaborate with industry to develop safe and practical solutions when new maritime technologies challenge existing regulations. As a regulatory authority, we must create room for innovation, and this is one way we can do so,” said Brian Adrian Wessel, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority.
For Saildrone, registration under the Danish flag establishes a formal regulatory foundation for continued expansion across Europe,supporting a growing fleet and deeper operational integration with European customers.
“Denmark is one of the world’s great maritime nations, with a reputation for high standards, safety, and professional maritime administration,” said Kim Løye Sørensen, head of business development for Saildrone Europe. “Operating under the Danish flag is a meaningful milestone as we expand our operations in Europe, and we are proud to represent the Danish flag at sea.”
Saildrone USVs are designed for extreme endurance operations in the open ocean. Missions range from maritime domain awareness—including identifying cross-border crime, illegal migration, and threats to critical infrastructure—to hydrographic surveying and environmental monitoring in some of the world’s most challenging maritime environments.
“This is the first time that any Saildrone has achieved formal national flag status. Given the phenomenal seafaring history of the Danes, it’s a huge honor that we are carrying the Danish flag on our Saildrones,” said Richard Jenkins, Saildrone Founder and CEO. “Going forward, we will continue to work closely with the Danish Maritime Authority to increase our Danish-flagged fleet, with the ambition of having our platform types, including Voyager, Surveyor, and Spectre, operating under the Danish flag in support of our European allies.”
About Saildrone
Saildrone designs, builds, and operates commercially developed unmanned surface vehicles for civil, commercial, and government missions. Built to perform in the world’s harshest environments, Saildrone platforms combine AI, advanced sensors, secure communications, and exceptional endurance to deliver persistent, wide-area maritime intelligence and seafloor insight. A modular architecture supports customer- and partner-furnished sensors and mission payloads, enabling multi-domain impact—from power projection and persistent ISR to real-time threat detection and tracking—while reducing cost, risk, and the burden on crewed assets. With proven operational success across the world’s oceans, Saildrone is advancing autonomous maritime operations to give decision-makers and warfighters the enduring advantage they need to act faster and operate farther.
A Saildrone Voyager operates in the Baltic Sea in support of maritime domain awareness missions. The 10-meter USV is one of the first Saildrone platforms registered in Denmark to operate under the Danish flag.
SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — On the day they were going to kill him, Evilásio Santos da Silveira Júnior, 33, told his sister he was going grocery shopping in the city of Salvador in northern Brazil where the line between the crossfire of rival drug gangs and police lethality has been increasingly blurred. But he never came back home.
His death and the questions surrounding it encapsulate a major hurdle for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to beat Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in October’s national elections.
The rising violence and critiques of government response could impact Lula in his stronghold state, where he won 72% of votes in the 2022 runoff against then incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
The 80-year-old president needs to maintain a strong lead with the 11 million baianos, as the state's residents are called, to beat his predecessor’s son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. The former trade unionist is polling below his results four years ago in Bahia, and public security is pointed to as the key reason.
Yet the president’s campaign trusts the appeal of his flagship social programs with baianos so he can once again win big.
Born and raised in the colorful capital of Bahia, Júnior died after bleeding for hours in an abandoned favela house with a shot through his brachial artery, close to the armpit.
Bahia state police officers at the scene said he was caught in a shootout between rival factions and suspect him of involvement. His family said he had no ties to gangs and was instead randomly killed by state forces during an unprovoked surprise raid.
“My confidence today is only in God, in my prayers … I can’t say I feel protected (by police). I am sorry to say that many times, at the end of the day, they are the criminals,” said Magnólia Nascimento, Júnior’s sister, who said she hopes the next president improves public safety and stops gangs from spreading, as Lula and Sen. Bolsonaro have promised to do.
Both police officers interviewed by The Associated Press and Júnior’s family agree that their state of Bahia has never been as violent, with five out of the country’s 10 most deadly cities there, according to nonprofit group Brazilian Public Security Forum. Salvador is the nation’s deadliest state capital, with nearly 53 violent deaths for every 100,000 residents, according to the most recent data from 2024.
Some voters blame national crime gangs migrating to Bahia. Others point to Lula’s Workers’ Party, which has governed the state — and thus local police — since 2006. They say they have failed to make police less lethal or stop the flow of drugs and weapons and have not invested enough in education.
Lula has tried to beef up his security credentials with the promise to create a public security ministry and dedicate more federal resources to fighting violence should he be reelected.
Sen. Bolsonaro has campaigned on a tough-on-crime stance, including the construction of massive prisons nationwide inspired by the model of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, although he hasn't directly addressed violence in Bahia.
When asked about his stronghold’s violence crisis in a news interview on Aug. 31, one day after Júnior was killed, Lula replied: “Don’t be unfair to Bahia.”
“No governor has solved the public security situation,” Lula added.
Baianos witness tragedies like Júnior’s daily through popular news programs that are friendly to local police and show bloody crime scenes, arrests and shooting footage. Hosts and reporters often mock human rights activists, who are portrayed as lenient on crime. One is famous for playing a harmonica to celebrate police killings.
The Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command dominates Bahia’s poorest areas with “CV” graffiti for its initials in Portuguese, facing off against its main rival, Bando de Malucos, a local gang tied to Brazil’s largest syndicate, the First Command of the Capital (PCC).
The Trump administration designated these groups as terrorist organizations earlier this year — a move Lula criticized as election interference meant to boost Sen. Bolsonaro. Analysts note these gangs spent the last decade expanding into Bahia to tap into lucrative drug-exporting markets in Europe and Asia as Brazil developed more ports and airports.
“Every state that becomes a strategic trading post for traffic is torn by organized crime. So you see these states with rising violence numbers,” said Maria Isabel Couto, a data and transparency director at Fogo Cruzado, a nonprofit that monitors violence in Brazil.
“It doesn’t mean those are violent states; they are hit by those groups and also by the police’s reaction in many cases.”
Lula or his allies have won every election in the state since 2002.
In 2022, Lula drew over 6 million votes in Bahia compared to Jair Bolsonaro’s 2.3 million, a victory fueled by the memory of his social programs. That result proved vital to his narrow 2.1-million-vote national victory.
Since then, Lula has expanded welfare in Bahia, including his flagship Bolsa Família program, growing benefits from 58 billion reais ($11.3 billion) under Bolsonaro in 2022 to 87.2 billion reais ($17 billion) last year, government figures show. This week he increased benefits under the initiative by 15% in a move some critics said aims to boost his popularity before elections.
Yet rising crime has created political tension.
Physical education teacher Tiali Doria, a staunch Lula supporter, notes that poorer voters now expect clear strategies on public safety, particularly to address police violence.
“In poorer regions, police put you against the wall, don’t say good evening, don’t ask who you are and treat you like a suspect,” Doria said after a Lula rally downtown, not far from drug trafficking hot spots.
Sen. Bolsonaro, however, has barely campaigned in the city. Rather than him winning over Lula's voters, turnout may be key. Some baianos need good reasons to leave home for the first round Oct. 4 — and possibly a runoff Oct. 25 — to vote for the president again.
“I voted for Lula the last time, but I am not convinced now,” said Jane Souza, the owner of a food stall in Salvador’s historic city center, citing both violence and the economy.
“But I think Flávio Bolsonaro just wants to take his father out of jail.”
Still, many Lula supporters refuse to associate the increase in violence with the veteran leader. One of them is Júnior’s sister.
Nascimento, who receives Bolsa Familia payments of about $116 per month, took a government-sponsored course to become a nurse. She is finally getting her driver’s license through another government initiative.
“I am using the resources of my government so I can pick myself up,” Nascimento said. “I vote for Lula because I vote for Lula.”
Police search motorists during a security operation in the Lobato neighborhood on the outskirts of Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A person displays a banner of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, during a campaign rally in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, hold signs asking him for improvements in health care and other public services during a campaign rally in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A low-income residential community, left, stands in contrast to high-rise residential buildings with an elevated metro line cutting through the urban landscape in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Forensic workers carry the body of a person killed during clashes between rival criminal gangs as the victim's relatives follow in the Jardim Esperanca neighborhood on the outskirts of Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
