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17th April 2024 Issue no. 701

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Hikvision provides a safe and secure Harbour for Dun Laoghaire

As Dun Laoghaire Harbour transforms from a ferry terminal into Ireland's major marine, leisure and tourism destination, the infusion of new businesses in the last few years served to highlight the shortcomings of the existing analogue CCTV system and its inability to secure the whole site.

Now, the entire 100-hectare harbour complex is protected by a Hikvision hybrid solution designed and installed by their Cork-based distributor, Mercury SD.

The new system retains all the existing coax cable within the harbour and uses 18 of the existing analogue CTV cameras to watch over the original ferry terminal and its immediate surroundings. The new Hikvision SMART IP cameras have been added: some to the coax cabling using IP over Coax transceivers but most over Ubiquiti wireless links to greatly extend the reach and scope of the surveillance to the more far-flung reaches of the harbour. All the cameras link back to the pair of Hikvision hybrid recorders in the harbour master's office, from where the Hikvision PTZ IR Speed Dome camera located at the lighthouse is controlled.                                              

A modernised coastal surveillance solution - whatever the weather                                            

"Providing effective surveillance throughout Dun Laoghaire Harbour was a challenging prospect," says Kevin O'Connell, System Designer at Mercury SD. "The older ferry terminal is now surrounded by a plethora of tourist hotspots and commercial areas. Plus, the whole focus of the CCTV surveillance system had to change due to the explosion of water moorings and water sport activities, which the old system was never designed to accommodate.                                            
"The harbour is also susceptible to extremely demanding weather conditions, including frequent occurrences of high winds, severe rain and fog. Visibility can go from clear to poor in minutes and any new CCTV system for the exposed harbour walls and marina complex must continue to deliver clear images during the worst of these environmental extremes. All the new cameras offer Hikvision's SMART imaging and detection, most prominently the Smart Defog and Smart IR features. These technologies were a huge selling point for the new solution, overcoming the problems that beset the old CCTV system even though most of the analogue cameras were indoors."                                   

Successful surveillance                                         

According to Tim Ryan, Harbour Manager at Dun Laoghaire, "The installation of the new surveillance solution has proved an immediate success with the Hikvision system exceeding our initial expectations. We use the system 24 hours a day to monitor the inner harbour area, consisting of car parks, walkways, busy junctions and ship docking areas. We have been able to provide Gardaí (police force) with evidence for a number of incidents that have occurred. It has also allowed us to intervene in certain situations thanks to the far reaching range of video coverage. Our recording equipment allows us to archive footage for approximately sixty days, which is also hugely beneficial to us."                                                 

Protection - for harbour and cameras                                         

The Hikvision DS-2DF7284-A IR Speed Dome installed at the lighthouse oversees some of the busiest parts of the harbour and is a core CCTV feed for the harbour team. This PTZ camera provides 360° surveillance through its endless high-speed panning capability, offers a large 20x optical zoom capability to detect the smallest details and combines this with an IR range of up to 120 metres. The camera can also be shared by the emergency sea rescue services in the event of an incident in close proximity. All the other Hikvision cameras are enclosed in a marine grade housing; being DS-2CD4012F 1.3 megapixel SMART IPC units along with DS-2CD4032F-A 3 megapixel pieces. All offer triple video streams, multiple alarm triggers, a transmission rate of up to 150 Mbps and 802.11n wireless support. Finally, the Hikvision DS-9016HFI-ST 16/16 Hybrid Recorders enabled the new SMART IP cameras to be added while retaining the majority of the older analogue cameras.                                

For more information, please visit Hikvision's website at www.hikvision.com

10th June 2015