In Liguria, on the north Mediterranean coast of Italy, Marina di Varazze needed to replace an analogue video surveillance system that no longer met its needs. The Marina looked to upgrade to improve the safety of personnel, of the ship owners and of the commercial premises on the promenade of the port, pictured. Furthermore, there was the need to have the option of providing documentation to the police in the event of a specific request or investigation.
The video surveillance system had to cover the 232,000 square metres of port, of which 144,000 square metres is water, as well as shops, restaurants, bars, car parks, public areas and luxury apartments.
The Marina had previously worked on an installation with XiX by Paolo Laterza. It again turned to XiX by Paolo Laterza to install the first phase of cameras, the fibre-optic infrastructure, and all active equipment, switches, servers and clients. XiX by Paolo Laterza advised the Marina to continue using Wisenet Q and Wisenet X cameras, given the ability to centralise the system via the Wisenet WAVE video management software (VMS).
A first phase involved the installation of IP cameras, in particular 33 bullet cameras and four speed domes. Further cameras were added, bringing the total to 67. Marina di Varazze duly took Wisenet WAVE, Hanwha Techwin’s VMS, to consolidate video feeds from Wisenet cameras and legacy devices still in use. A control room on site monitors the marina 24/7, and thanks to WAVE, operators can access footage to investigate events and people of interest. An operators can find the most appropriate footage and images relating to an event and export this data to be delivered, if necessary, to the police.
The WAVE user interface is described as intuitive to use, while a server-client system allows management locally and remotely, for the marina manager to view live and recorded videos remotely.
The installed cameras have a minimal aesthetic impact, integrating with the architecture of the marina, designed by the Italian architects Roberto Gabetti, Aimaro Isola and Pietro Venezia. There are eight buildings that are inspired by early 20th-century bathing establishments in Liguria, built from iroko wood and stone, with antiqued copper roofs. The cameras are installed on customized AISI-316 stainless steel poles that recall the shapes of an anchor, designed and made by XiX by Paolo Laterza, using brackets cut to size by laser, and are discreetly sited.
The new video surveillance has already demonstrated its effectiveness in supporting the investigations of local law enforcement agencies as well as allowing the Maritime Authority to reconstruct, for insurance purposes, the dynamics of any events that have occurred in the water and/or on the docks.
