Boats can be attractive targets for intruders. To make sure all bases were covered day and night, the Val Wyatt Marine facility on the River Thames turned to Lantec Security and full-colour cameras enabled by Hikvision ColorVu technology for its video security upgrade.
Three miles south of Henley, in Wargrave, Berkshire, a stunning stretch of the River Thames, is home to one of the UK’s most highly respected and trusted independent marinas. That marina, Val Wyatt Marine, was established 175 years ago, and the marina’s staff pride themselves on providing the best boating experience for new and seasoned boaters alike. They’re renowned for their knowledge, expertise, high standards and the level of care and customer service they offer.
Members of the UK’s professional boating body, British Marine, Val Wyatt Marine, forms part of a group of industry leaders who are committed to promoting the enjoyment of boating. In addition to boat buying, selling, maintenance and engineering services, they provide moorings for 130 boats and trailer boat park storage for 25 boats. Winter storage is provided either under cover or outside.
The marina site is expansive, covering five acres, and is just one lock away from the town of Henley-on-Thames. On the site, there are riverside moorings and dry dock facilities, engineering and maintenance buildings and the on-site café, The Cwtch.
When the management of Val Wyatt Marine decided that the time was right to upgrade their site security, they turned to the experts at Lantec Security. Reading-based Lantec is a specialist provider of bespoke security solutions, staffed by an experienced and dedicated team of industry professionals. Their high-quality video security systems offer round clock protection, backed up by intruder alarm and access control technologies.
Steve Lane is Director at LanTec Security. He explains the challenge faced by his team in securing the Val Wyatt Marine site.
“It’s a big area, five acres in total, including the riverside moorings,” he says. “We needed to make sure that we could effectively protect that entire property and the boats and stock inside.”
24-hour colour video
To upgrade the marina’s security, LanTec opted to use 15 Hikvision 4-megapixel bullet-
style network cameras with ColorVu technology, strategically located to provide optimum coverage of the entire site. That includes boats moored on the river, the site perimeter, and traffic monitoring into and out of the Val Wyatt facilities.
Cameras with ColorVu technology are less affected by the harsh reflections caused by smooth surfaces such as water or glass. Full-colour images capture more detailed information from the monitored environment. Traditional infrared cameras are challenged by the park’s facilities and the surrounding trees because of the lack of detail in the black and white IR images. But now, cameras with ColorVu technology can provide crisp and clear full-colour pictures even in the depths of night, making it easier to distinguish objects and intruders from the dark background.
Cameras with ColorVu technology utilise advanced F1.0 lenses and high-performance sensors to capture the highest quality full-colour images, even in very low-light conditions. This better enables system operators to follow up on incidents and identify perpetrators or vehicles. ColorVu technology allows the staff at Val Wyatt Marine to see what’s happening in any scene, no matter the time of day or night.
The Cameras with ColorVu technology complement Hikvision DarkFighter speed dome cameras, which provide 4-megapixel resolution and 25x zoom capabilities. These domes are also highly effective in low-light conditions and can track suspected incidents as they occur.
High-tech tracking
Intruders can also be tracked using sophisticated video analytics software, Steve Lane says. The analytics software tracks potential intruders as they move past the scenes surveyed by the fixed Cameras with ColorVu technology, generating alarms and allowing staff to investigate further using the DarkFighter domes or in-person as needed.
“All users, including customers, tenants and staff, have taken full advantage of the physical fobs or the Paxton Key app on their phones and smartwatches to gain entry. These can be uniquely identified, easing the administration efforts.
“With the convenient remote apps for both systems, our staff are also able to keep an eye on the site, which has improved our ability to assist our customers out of hours, contributing to a positive experience of what Val Wyatt Marine has to offer.”