A subject directly related to the individual value and itinerary of each yacht completes this series dedicated to the systems characteristic of all super yachts: Surveillance.

The double function of super yachts as both sailing vessels and homes away from home, added to the fact that they are continuously underway, results in the necessity to insure the yachts, their passengers and their belongings in a very special manner. As a result, in addition to the obligatory safety equipment required we can also find a number of different items such as mass or movement sensors, day and night marine cameras, wave analyzers and other accessories on board. All of these components work towards the same end: to protect the yacht and its occupants from all risks. This is an objective that goes beyond the technical aspect to involve the human factor as well, although we will limit ourselves here to reviewing the means that help to make this possible.
Until just a few years ago the use of a large part of this equipment was restricted to fields such as defense, police and science. Thanks to these demanding beginnings, today we can rely on the results of important research that have also continued to evolve appreciably due to their application under the worst of conditions. Presently, the use of these devices is permitted in several different fields, among them the nautical field, with the only requirement being that they are to be used to reinforce the law. For this reason, the distribution of these items is conditioned by strict rules such as the inexorable veto of high-risk customers or the requirement that the owner assume personal life-long responsibility for the devices. These are indisputable arguments when what is intended is to make our surroundings a safer place and not the opposite.

TO PREVENT OT TO CURE
There is only one acceptable response when encountered with possible threats to people and irreplaceable property: to take the proper precautions in accordance with the places to be visited and the type of navigation practiced. Among all the elements that make up a boat, the periodic checking of its alarm systems and safety protocol is of special importance. Let’s not think only of the risks of being physically boarded and against which a large number of yachts carr y firearms and other means to protect themselves since it can be much more difficult to prevent the theft of valuable documents or the diffusion of private conversations. For that crews are trained, experience in the matter is highly valued, and one turns to agencies that offer reinforcements and even support vessels for especially conflictive routes. The crew members of a yacht moored in por t move back and for th without reservation over the gangway or transom door, but this does not go unnoticed. This movement is within the field of action of magnetic receptors that remain passive because they recognize a key ring that is carried in someone’s pocket. In another yacht, anchored in a secluded spot on a moonless night, the crew member on watch passes the time reading a novel knowing that if a noise is heard or something shows up on the short-range radar the pitch darkness can be scanned thanks to a projector of invisible light (infra-red searchlight) and a camera with thermal vision. Even more important than merely detecting the slightest incident, is detecting it as soon as possible. Movements before a closed circuit television, reverberations in infra-red light beams or alterations within induced electromagnetic fields are all signals that the surveillance system devices interpret in order to alert us as soon as possible of something that would otherwise go unnoticed.

During the day and with good visibility our range of sight reaches a radius of 5 or 6 miles from the deck of the boat, whereas at a height of twenty meters above the sea the horizon can be distinguished at 10 or 12 miles. Even to interpret an echo seen on the radar we depend on our own sense of sight in the end. However, on the one hand the human eye is only able to see what it can see and on the other hand yachts underway are constantly moving which causes the incremented vision by seven times of conventional binoculars (which also reduces brightness by 20%) to offer somewhat disappointing results. In an effort to expand our scanning range, a number of devices are used : electrically stabilized binoculars which allow a minimum of light reduction and magnify the sight range by 18 times, image-intensified camaras whose major benefits are best seen in pitch darkness, and infra-red lenses which only require the radiation reflected off objects as illumination. Some are shortranged models reaching only a few meters, while others are able to increase vision to several miles. These long-range devices are an able assistance for navigation in bad meteorological conditions, as well as in more common situations such as when it is difficult to make out buoys in the darkness. In the case of digital video, normally run by computer, the functions pan, tilt and zoom can be combined in one joystick control. More sophisticated installations require a control panel integrated with the rest of the console instruments on the bridge.

WE HAVE A PROBLEM
No surveillance system will be safe if it depends on a connection, therefore the center of transmissions becomes a strategic point on board. These centers are configured following the maritime norms and taking into account not only the requirements of the surveillance system but those of the monitoring and enter tainment systems, as well. The more complete ones also incorporate cer tain types of electronic equipment such as radio frequency scanners and cr yptophones. The different devices are used for direct communication and from one place to another, whether it be within the boat itself or outside the boat--in port, within sight of shore or at sea--and allow you to choose the most fitting option in each situation. Close range connections are attended to by local networks--reliable and economic (GSM,WLAN,WIFI)--whereas global coverage can be obtained through Globalbeam (64/64kpbs) by way of the Inmarsat satellite network, and can be complemented with wide band satellite modem services such as Tracknet (128/512kbps) or Wavecall (256/1024kbps).
At anchor or in port, the sound of an alarm siren is usually enough to scare off intruders or at least to warn the crew. Far from frequented places, a voice amplified above one hundred decibels can be as persuasive as a Xenon spotlight of twenty million candelas. Even though the first barrier has been surmounted, there is still time to react from the next defensive line. In any case, the system’s devices will have received decisive information for choosing the most appropriate response or, if the yacht is unoccupied, the chain of notifications to those responsible for its protection will have been set off. Once again it is necessary to refer to the crew since it largely depends on their ability to deal with this type of situation. And if until now we have followed the pattern of a typical surveillance process (precautions, detection, identification, communication and intervention) that will have aided us in becoming familiar with a large number of the components of the system, it would now be worth our while to explore somewhat deeper into the technology behind them.