Honeywell Provides Radar Security For Port Of Miami

  • Jul 10, 2009

Honeywell recently announced the successful implementation of a waterside radar system that provides situational awareness of the waterways in the general areas surrounding the Port of Miami, one of the United States’ busiest seaports.

The Port of Miami, in Florida’s Miami-Dade County, is known as both the Cruise Capital of the World and the Cargo Gateway of the Americas. The port contributes more than $17 billion annually to the South Florida economy and supports more than 176,000 jobs. In fiscal year 2008, more than 4.1 million passengers traveled through the port, and more than 7.4 million tons and 828,349 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo passed through the facility.

“The implementation of the Radar Video Surveillance System and the Automated Information System is another example of how the Port of Miami is implementing cutting-edge technology to strengthen our ability to provide a secure environment for both our cruise and cargo customers,” said Bill Johnson, Port of Miami director.

The Port installation makes use of radar arrays -- installed by Honeywell-certified supplier Adesta LLC -- to monitor ship traffic. The Honeywell Radar Video Surveillance (RVS) system serves as the backbone of each array and enables authorities to respond quickly to potential threats by integrating waterside radar with Automatic Identification System (AIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and video data.

The RVS software allows security personnel to create rules for identifying potential threats, including defined alarm zones, ship speed and direction, time of day and other operator inputs. Intruders detected by the radar system are depicted on the RVS Graphical User Interface to allow security personnel to use Honeywell’s ACUIX PTZ cameras to assess and track the targets. Collaboration with the Port of Miami Information Technology Section enabled the integration of the Honeywell solutions (RVS, AIS) with the Port’s legacy Access Control and Ship Scheduling Systems. The Access Control Integration provides for the immediate notification of RVS alarms to the legacy central alarm monitoring system, while the AIS provides vessel arrival and departure information to the port’s legacy Ship Scheduling System.

The solution quickly transmits radar and video display information to the port’s control center through wireless and fiber optic networks. In the command and control center, security personnel view the user interface on displays where tracking and video information are displayed via a geospatial map, providing the port with situational awareness assessment of potential threats. The solution also wirelessly transmits the information to patrol boat officers who use laptops outfitted with the RVS software for onsite real-time target and video display.

“Maritime security is one of the most scrutinized homeland security issues today, and effectively securing a seaport is an extremely challenging task due to the sheer size of the area,” said Jeremy Howard, global account manager for critical infrastructure protection, Honeywell. “By collaborating with an integrator such as Adesta who has vast experience in this market and using an integrated approach, Honeywell has provided a solution that quickly delivers critical information that security personnel at the Port of Miami need to make an informed decision when responding to a threat.”

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