Wärtsilä Unveils 'Smart' Camera System for Ships

Wärtsilä Voyage has launched its Smart Panoramic Edge Camera System (S.P.E.C.S), designed to enhance marine safety by providing 360 degree situational awareness, streamed directly to the bridge in real-time.

In addition to eliminating blind spots with digital panoramic cameras located around the vessel, S.P.E.C.S can also provide a birds-eye view of the ship and its surroundings, which the developer notes is a significant advantage when docking. The system’s cameras provide a calibrated range grid around the vessel to give precise measurement of distances. Furthermore, it offers an augmented reality view by connecting to the navigation system to assist in identifying targets and potential hazards.

“Safety is of increasing concern in today’s maritime environment. Vessels have become ever larger in size, and the volume of sea traffic is greater than ever before. With S.P.E.C.S, the bridge crew has a perfect view of what’s going on around the ship at all times. This takes situational awareness to a completely new level, and greatly reduces the risk of accidents and costly damage,” said Sasha Heriot, Head of Product, Assistance Systems, Wärtsilä Voyage.

Thanks to the full view - free of blind spots - that it offers, the S.P.E.C.S system solves challenges such as the spotting of small vessels, the monitoring of tug operations, or the potential inaccuracies of manual docking, Wärtsilä Voyage said. By eliminating this uncertainty and providing almost perfect situational awareness, S.P.E.C.S greatly reduces risks both in busy harbors and in confined waters, the company added.

Multiple display and workstation options come with a dedicated software package specifically optimized for the hardware. The camera pods are designed to cope with the harshest marine conditions, and the system is not reliant on the global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

(Image: Wärtsilä)