Major international port installs Wavestore recording solution

Located at the base of the West Indian archipelago, Trinidad’s thriving Port of Spain provides a strategic trans-shipment hub for containerised, break-bulk, roll-on/ roll-off and dry/ liquid bulk cargo between the North and South American and Caribbean continents.

Situation

A Wavestore state-of-the-art digital video recording solution was specified and installed in 2007 in order to comply with the requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code and to help improve operational efficiency. In particular, the port was experiencing a number of transaction discrepancies relating to container shipments and as a consequence, the port’s management team invited tenders for the supply and installation of a robust video security system that could monitor the movement of containers 24/7, regardless of the environmental conditions.

Solution

Panasonic security cameras, including a number of day/night PTZ models, were strategically installed around the port with the images captured by the cameras being recorded on a network of Wavestore digital video recorders configured in a cellular structure, to provide for system redundancy and scalability.

The Security Police Control Room was fitted with two large 37” LCD screens to enable constant monitoring of live, and if required, recorded video, enabling security personnel to view activity at all access gates, approach roads, container storage facilities, shed areas and administration buildings.

Success

The installation and training were completed by Andromica Video Systems and the system is now in continuous use, having been fully integrated into the existing network infrastructure.

The benefits of the security system were realised immediately with reduced losses, there were also improvements in operational efficiency which resulted in an increase in container movements, as well as better utilisation of cranes and trucks.

Following the initial installation, an automated container recognition system has been integrated with the Wavestore recording solution. This validates container movements against the respective truck’s manifest and licence plate.