The ROV for Port, Ship and Bridge Security
 The safety of ports, harbors, bridges, and vessels is a top priority
for Homeland Security, above water and below. Proven at the US
Customs, Coast Guard, and Corps of Engineers, the VideoRay is
a portable, affordable system that can be operated by one person.
Underwater security sweeps can be performed quickly, reliably,
and without the cost and inconvenience of divers. With the addition
of the Desert Star Positioning
System, a highly accurate and
repeatable hull inspection can be accomplished quickly and inexpensively.
Case Study | Related
articles | Suggested Configurations | Related
video: "Marine
Security: Hull Inspection", "Commercial
Inspection"
 In Port Bustamante, Jamaica last year, three divers whose job it
was to inspect the hull of vessels as part of the anti-narcotic
procedure were killed to prevent them from investigating and
discovering contraband. To cut the threat to divers and their
families, Security Administrators Limited invested in VideoRay
ROVs to begin diver-less inspections.
Operated by one person on the dock or deck of a boat, the 8-pound
ROV (remotely operated vehicle) now inspects vessels sailing from
Jamaica to the United States. The submersible vehicle is connected
to a 500-foot long tether and outfitted with a video camera that
relays crisp video from underwater to a monitor. Getting into tight
places that are inaccessible to divers, VideoRay can be sent into
the water to inspect for explosives before ships dock. Imaging
sonar can detect items, and VideoRay inspects the targets without
endangering divers. VideoRay used in conjunction with scanning
sonar and GPS can quickly and precisely locate and identify plumes
of divers or targets. A manipulator arm that can be mounted to
the submersible can pick up objects up to of 100 lbs./50kgs.
 Steve van Meter, a Hazardous Duty Robotics Specialist from NASA/Kennedy
Space Center, has worked on three missions with the US Customs
Contraband Enforcement team at Port Canaveral, Florida, to inspect
ships for which the US Customs had intelligence of carrying drugs.
In the absence of dive teams to perform the searches, the VideoRay
was sent into the bilge areas, the ballast tanks, and then on a
complete survey of the bottom of the ship. During the search of
the bilges, the VideoRay was set up on the deck of the ship. The
search of the ship’s bottom was performed from the dock.
According to van Meter, a great deal of time was saved during the
inspection of the ballast tank because there was no need to drain
and flush the tank and then put people inside. The oil does not
harm the VideoRay.
“The US Customs team reported that using the VideoRay saved
them a lot of time and effort and allowed them to search areas
they wouldn’t be able to without divers,” said van
Meter. “The searches were done safely and quickly.”
During his survey of the bottom of the vessel, van Meter was looking
for unusual spots and new welds on the barnacle-encrusted surface.
He checked the prop shaft and bow thruster for places a package
or parasitic devise could be stowed. Van Meter was able to check
the entire bottom and verify the propeller shaft condition without
ever getting in the water.
Van Meter has also worked with the Brevard County and Orange Country
Sheriff’s office dive teams to teach them how to use the
VideoRay to search docks, piers, and ships. During the training
exercise, the VideoRay was sent into the water with divers. The
divers were taught how to grab the VideoRay submersible and point
it at items of interest. The dive teams are being prepared in the
event a security sweep is needed in a port.
“When we returned and showed the video to divers, they were
amazed,” said van Meter. “The divers said they could
see so much more through the VideoRay than with their own eyes,
even though they were right there.”
On an evidence search, Van Meter worked with the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) Recovery Team to investigate an underwater
area at the Yacht Harbor Marina in Austin, Texas. A fire there
on December 16, 2000, damaged boats belonging to President George
W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans.
The VideoRay scoped out the cold, dark waters of Lake Travis in
depths from 60 to 70 feet, accessing areas where divers would have
likely stirred up the bottom. Sending the VideoRay to recover items
of possible value to the investigation eliminated risks to divers,
keeping them from entangling in cables and steel supports and preventing
dive hazards such as hypothermia, drowning, decompression, and
accidental injury. In just five minutes from launch of the VideoRay,
the first items of possible value to the investigation were located
and retrieved with the VideoRay’s manipulator arm.
VideoRay has been proven in agencies of the Federal, State and
Local Governments, including the Corps of Engineers, NCIS, the
Navy, US Customs, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
Agencies and companies around the world perform inspections and
security sweeps of hulls, docks, mooring buoys, bridges, dams,
nuclear power plants and other submerged structures with the VideoRay.
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For port inspections, we recommend the VideoRay
Pro III with:
For ship inspections, we recommend the VideoRay
Pro III with:
For bridge inspections, we recommend the VideoRay
Pro III with:
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