On 6 November 2008, at the European Maritime Safety Agency(EMSA) headquarters in Lisbon, contracts were signed for thedevelopment of the European Union Long Range Identification andTracking Data Centre. This step marks the end of a Europeanpublic procurement process started with the tender publication on11 June 2008. Willem de Ruiter, EMSA Executive Director,Christophe Vassal, CEO of CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites)based in Ramonville, France and Isabelle Roussin, Executive VicePresident of Marketing for Highdeal S.A., based in Paris, Francemet to underline their dedication to setting-up a Data Centre forthe EU Member States as early as possible in 2009. Mr.