The new system will cover the entire 11-mile perimeter of the port, giving security personnel a complete view of activity in the San Juan Bay and on the port platform.
"Securing the world's ports has become a top priority since 9/11," said Fernando Diaz, general security director of the Puerto Rican Port Authority. "The Port of San Juan experiences high levels of traffic throughout the year so we wanted to be even more secure than required."
The port currently relies on its human resources to perform a majority of security tasks. After 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security established strict criteria for securing national ports to help protect against terrorism by utilizing the latest technology on the market.
To move the port beyond this criteria, Honeywell will install a scalable, closed-circuit television (CCTV) solution that includes Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) and Honeywell Digital Video Manager (DVM). The result: a digital surveillance system that supports integration with other enterprise systems through a single PC workstation. This will allow the new system at the port to interface with the security system in place at the San Juan International Airport. In the event of a maritime or aviation emergency, authorities will be able to manage security operations at either location.
"The Port of San Juan will establish a new standard for port security," said Carl Rysdon, vice president of homeland security at Honeywell. "The new system delivers true integration for all facets of security onto a single platform. In addition, Puerto Rico can expand the power of this system to the rest of its critical infrastructure."
The system will monitor and manage 153 video cameras located throughout the port. Seven of these video cameras will have special night vision capabilities that can detect activity from as far away as 3,000 feet. In the event of an emergency, the system will send an alarm and generate an activity report to alert operators of a possible breach of security.
Operators at the port will be able to view, archive and retrieve data from their EBI workstation without leaving to replace a tape in a VCR or activate a recording. The surveillance system will have 40 terabytes of memory for high-resolution and frame-rate recording. As needs grow, the port will be able to expand storage.
Plasma displays throughout the command center will allow operators to track port activity with clarity. Using search capabilities, operators also can quickly find and view previously recorded videos, which are stored in the DVM database. The system also will automatically log all activity, providing a complete record of surveillance operations.
To build the system, Honeywell will install 45,000 feet of fiber optic cable and a free space optic (FSO) system to close the network loop and properly secure the infrastructure.
