Hurtigruten is a traditional ferry service and major tourist attraction in Norway that has been in operation since 1866 and transports more than 230,000 passengers per vessel every year between Bergen and Kirkenes. As part of the renovations made on the ship MS Nordlys, a new IP network was installed to accommodate a new security system. Norwegian Center of Maritime Communication, a maritime IT systems consultancy firm, was responsible for supervising and commissioning the solution, while installments were made by local installer Com-Scan.
Hurtigruten is a traditional ferry service and major tourist attraction in Norway that has been in operation since 1866 and transports more than 230,000 passengers per vessel every year between Bergen and Kirkenes. As part of the renovations made on the ship MS Nordlys, a new IP network was installed to accommodate a new security system. Norwegian Center of Maritime Communication, a maritime IT systems consultancy firm, was responsible for supervising and commissioning the solution, while installments were made by local installer Com-Scan.
On September 15, 2011, an explosive fire broke out in the engine room on one of Hurtiguten's vessels, MS Nordlys, which completely destroyed the old communication system and analog matrix-based infrastructure. New telephone cables were laid to replace the old communication system, which enabled the installment of a new IP network system consisting of 23 Axis Communications IP cameras and Milestone Systems VMS. The vessel re-entered service on March 20, 2012 and has a dedicated VLAN for video surveillance, making it easy to extend the system to other ships. Installing IP networks on vessels can be challenging since ships are constantly moving. This was solved by using three different network technologies that complement and back each other up, guaranteeing contact with the control rooms in ports.
Axis camera models used included fixed HD, discreet HD dome, fixed D/N with SVGA resolution, fixed dome with remote focus zoom and HD dome with similar functions. Outdoor PTZ domes with 18x zoom were installed on the car deck. The cameras are housed in stainless steel to cope with extreme weather and stress, including moisture and heat in the engine room. The cameras have greatly enhanced the safety for crew members; for instance, those installed in the engine room help engineers make sure everything is in order and alarm colleagues during incidents. The camera up on the mast also provides additional safety, allowing the color of the smoke to be seen.
Hurtigruten may need to add more cameras in the future, and is looking into video analytics, such as “people counting” that can be of great benefit during emergency evacuations.