On Monday (Apr 25), Wärtsilä Voyage, part of the technology group Wärtsilä, announced the launch of its Smart Panoramic Edge Camera System (S.P.E.C.S). Designed to significantly enhance marine safety, it’s a system that provides 360 degree situational awareness, streamed directly to the bridge in real-time.

Wärtsilä takes situational awareness to a new level with launch of its S.P.E.C.S camera system
Caption: Smart Panoramic Edge Camera System greatly reduces risk of accidents by providing an almost perfect 360 degree view of the vessel and its surroundings

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 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,” says 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. By eliminating this uncertainty and providing almost perfect situational awareness, S.P.E.C.S greatly reduces risks both in busy harbours and in confined waters.

Image caption: Smart Panoramic Edge Camera System (S.P.E.C.S). Enhances marine safety, provides 360 degree situational awareness, streamed directly to the bridge in real-time. © Wärtsilä

Multiple display and workstation options come with a dedicated software package specifically optimised 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).

Wärtsilä Voyage will be hosting an in-person launch event on the 27th of April at the Seatrade Cruise Global conference being held in Miami, Florida, booth 3432.