MSC Cruises has launched a new video surveillance system for its ships to ensure the alarm can be raised as soon as possible if a person falls over board.
Security experts at Bosch and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have helped trial the ‘first-of-its-kind’ surveillance system using 25,000 hours of footage from MSC Cruises, the Europe and South America specialist, over the last 14 months.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ executive chairman, said: “The security and safety of our guests and crew on board has always been our highest priority.
“Therefore we have developed a highly-innovative solution that, through the use of military-grade technology, will allow ship command to take immediate action if needed.”
The video surveillance system has been launched initially on MSC Cruises’ latest flagship, MSC Meraviglia.
The highly resilient hardware resists tough conditions at sea.
This system has allowed to significantly lower the error margin for false alerts – often caused by natural movements such as waves, the sun or moon’s reflection, or a bird triggering the alarm.
Vago added: “While a ship at sea is a challenging environment for accurate video security, our teams have managed to successfully develop a system that is at the same time accurate, stable and reliable.”
Through hours of video analysis, extensive software testing and continuous algorithmic updates, the system has now reached a confirmed accuracy level of 97%.
MSC has confirmed similar systems will be rolled out across its global fleet.