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.”

Featured

  • Security Today Announces 2025 CyberSecured Award Winners

    Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 CyberSecured Awards winners. Sixteen companies are being recognized this year for their network products and other cybersecurity initiatives that secure our world today. Read Now

  • Empowering and Securing a Mobile Workforce

    What happens when technology lets you work anywhere – but exposes you to security threats everywhere? This is the reality of modern work. No longer tethered to desks, work happens everywhere – in the office, from home, on the road, and in countless locations in between. Read Now

  • TSA Introduces New $45 Fee Option for Travelers Without REAL ID Starting February 1

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID, to establish identity at security checkpoints beginning on February 1, 2026. Read Now

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.