The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code is a set of new maritime regulations designed to help detect and deter threats to international security, which came into force in July 2004.
The ISPS Code applies to specific vessels over 500gt engaged in international voyages and all port facilities serving such ships. Requirements of the code include: Ship or Port Facility Security Assessment (SSA or PFSA); Ship or Port Facility Security Plan (SSP or PFSP); Ship or Port Facility Security Certificate (SSC or PFSC); Ship or Port Facility Security Officer (SSO or PFSO); Company Security Officer; and a Ship Security Alert System (SSAS). Operating since 1886, Tilbury port handles 10.3 million tonnes of cargo on an annual basis with about 8000 HGV movements each day. Goldcrest Surveillance Division Limited was awarded the contract to enhance CCTV at Tilbury in Essex, which is part of the Forth Ports Group, to ensure compliance with the ISPS code. The Port of Tilbury Police manage this contract, which involves the installation of cameras at all main entry and exit gates, where security staff employed by the police control movement of traffic in and out of the port. All main berthing areas, including the main shipping access points into the dock area via lock gates, high value containerised cargo compounds and buildings deemed sensitive to general port operations also come within the installation criteria. Goldcrest have installed about 80 cameras at 17 locations on the port, utilising fixed high-resolution colour cameras with lenses, housings, brackets and five PIH-76251P fully functional colour domes all supplied by Merit Li-Lin. Goldcrest who were able to integrate the existing CCTV system using a PIH-2150 Multi-protocol keyboard, have installed several Merit Li-Lin domes at Stansted Airport. Goldcrest are now installing a further four colour cameras and will shortly be installing six colour domes to satisfy policing requirements for the airport. Goldcrest based in Basildon, Essex has a client base including Stansted Airport control authorities, which include HM Customs & Excise and HM Immigration service and DFDS Transport and numerous airport-warehousing facilities around the country. A control vehicle designed and built by Goldcrest, which utilises Merit Li-Lin domes and fixed cameras is available for use for surveillance operations at airports and ports. It can also be used as a temporary base station/control room during the initial installation at new sites, which incorporates aerial networking or as a test bed for new technology being tried and tested by Goldcrest. Over the past two years Goldcrest has installed more than 500 fixed cameras and 200 domes from Merit Li-Lin in various locations throughout the UK.
What they say
James O’Brien, Managing Director of Basildon-based Goldcrest, says: "Li-Lin products are very reliable, we have had no failures on any of the cameras over the 2 years that we have been using their equipment (well below the industry standard on failures), this includes the fully functional domes in particular, you would expect problems due to the moving parts, but we have had none. There are environmental factors to take into account, many cameras particularly in the locations we tend to install like ports and airports are subject to problems as a result of frequent power failures. However this has not been the case to date, these products seem to have survived, which is reassuring. We have found that the new IP domes from Li-Lin are user friendly, easy to install and are running at optimum capacity on the PCs, we have utilised both the BNC and RJ45 outputs from the domes. The BNC for local recording and the RJ45 output for server based recording remotely at Tilbury Port. The domes are being networked back through a matrix to Tilbury Port Police Station. We can choke the IP data stream to suit the accommodation in the aerial network, quite a dynamic mechanism for multiplexing, sending back either pulse or live IP pictures. We can also get broadband 1 volt peak video at 25 frames per second, which is unusual in a network, this has proved very popular with the client and is compliant from a policing standpoint.”
