Shrimp fishing is one of Greenland’s biggest exports, with an estimate of 36,000 tons caught in 2016. Like all valuable resources, this needs to be secured and protected, and Hikvision products were used in the build of the latest new freezer trawler – Greenland’s largest at 82 m in length which was commissioned by Sikauk Trawl. Danish Security Experts Vodanet were brought on board from the beginning of the trawler’s build to advise on and install the security elements.
The Svend C trawler has a complete shrimp processing factory onboard, which needed to be monitored and secure. The factory layout includes two 600-ton freezer units to keep the seafood fresh. The project had two focuses – the main one to ensure the safety of the crew on the ship, the second to monitor and protect production.
The sea is a powerful force, and the solution needed to be strong enough to withstand the challenges thrown at it. The first of these is salt air and freezing temperatures. The products chosen needed to be anti-corrosive and work within low temperature ranges. The second challenge is the constant movement of a ship at sea. Another unexpected challenge facing shipping companies is unauthorised people coming aboard ship when it is docked at a port. There can be problems of theft in these situations, so surveillance can also prevent this. All of this needed to be coordinated through a central point – both for monitoring and recording purposes.
Vodanet worked with the builders from the beginning, putting a solution together to enable effective security monitoring for the relevant areas of the trawler. They used stainless steel cameras, certified to IP67, to counter the corrosive environment (DS-2CD6626DS-IZHS). The use of 2MP ultra low light dome cameras (DS-2CD4526FWD-IZHS) covered the main areas of the ‘factory’, including the freezing units. These cameras also perform very well in the ‘rolling’ sea scenarios. For flexibility of monitoring, a PTZ camera (DS-2DT6223-AELY) was installed, giving operators the possibility to zoom in to an area of interest. These were installed using special mounts to counter the movement of the ship.
Finally, all of the camera footage from multiple locations on the ship was brought together in a new Super 4K NVR (DS-96128NI-I16/H), located in the security centre on the bridge. The inclusion of a decoder in the solution means that the Captain can also view the footage from his own cabin.
Svend Christensen, owner of Sikuaq Trawl, was delighted with the results: “This was a great solution from Hikvision and Vodanet. We were very impressive with the camera installation – they’re working in every condition the harsh environment throws at them.” He went on to give an example of why the crew was grateful for the cameras: “We were able to watch the tow rope without one of our crew members having to stay outside in sub-zero temperatures – believe me that guy was grateful!”
The project was so successful that six more Hikvision stainless steel cameras are being installed, to make the solution even more effective and flexible to the needs of Sikauq Trawl. Hikvision prides itself on its ability to tailor a solution to exactly what the customer wants. This is another example of the flexibility derived from a mixture of cutting-edge technology, an understanding of the customers’ need and excellence in integration with third-party partners.
