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Port of Dover installs sensors, cameras to monitor ferry berthing
A major port and transport hub in southeast England has deployed cameras, radar and sensors to monitor the docking of passenger ferries to deliver insights into the condition and performance of berth fenders
As the UK’s busiest international ferry harbour, the Port of Dover has installed sensors and cameras to monitor the performance and condition of its ferry berths.
This gathers data from ferry berthing to inform the port’s asset engineers of any significant berthing events that could compromise the effectiveness of these fenders.
Information from sensors, radar and cameras can be analysed to improve planning of fender maintenance.
Sensors measure the magnitude of fender displacement when ferries berth, and Meteor cameras provide visual verification of each vessel.
“The combined camera and fender monitoring system has given us valuable insight into the real-world performance of our berth infrastructure,” said Port of Dover senior engineer Gennaro Acquaviva.
“By combining fender displacement data with visual records of berthing operations, we can better understand the forces being imposed on the fenders and how the system responds over time.”
Sensors measure cyclical compression of fender components as ferries berth. Operational and maintenance teams use quantitative measurements to schedule fendering repairs and extend the life of the fenders.
“The key benefit for us is the ability to make more informed engineering decisions, said Mr Acquaviva.
“This data supports condition-based maintenance, improves our understanding of fender integrity, and helps us plan replacements or design improvements based on evidence rather than assumption,” he said.
“This has important benefits for safety, operational reliability and cost control, while also supporting sustainability by helping us avoid unnecessary replacement of serviceable components and reducing the carbon impact associated with premature asset renewal.”
I&M Solutions and Geo-Sub have together delivered the monitoring contract to the Port of Dover, which handles over 11M passengers per year and around a third of all the UK’s trade in goods with the European Union.
They installed a long-range Vega radar to detect ferry arrivals at the berth and five further sensors at selected fenders to measure the distance from the quay wall to the rear of the fender, with all data captured by wireless loggers.
Once a vessel is detected, the five fender sensors are activated, instructing the loggers to record measurements at 5 Hz while the vessel berths.
Meteor Communications’ MCE mini pillar camera with an infrared illuminator monitors the sensors and records images for each ferry docking.
Ferries arrive at the English port at a frequency of around two per hour, and each of the six car ferry berths are fitted with a range of different fenders to absorb low-velocity forces when a vessel docks.
Data and images from the monitoring system are stored on a cloud platform for analysis and access by operational and technical teams and managers.
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