Bosch's rugged surveillance cameras and VMS secure Finland’s icebreaker ship, Polaris

Finland’s foreign trade depends on shipping lanes and seaports that are ice-free, so the country operates the world's second-largest fleet of icebreakers. One of the latest ships, called Polaris, is equipped with Bosch video cameras and a Bosch Video Management System (BVMS) that ensure safe operations in some of the roughest cold weather that the planet has to offer.

Polaris departs for the Bay of Bothnia – between Finland and Sweden – around the end of each year and stays there until the following May. During this period, the officers and crew under Captain Pasi Järvelin work 12 hours a day, 20 days at a time. The long shifts and challenging working conditions impose tough requirements on occupational safety.

Cameras from the MIC series are used on deck, cameras from the FLEXIDOME and DINION series are used inside

Bosch HD video cameras

For safe, efficient work at sea, the Polaris uses high-definition cameras from Bosch. Cameras from the MIC series are used on deck, cameras from the FLEXIDOME and DINION series are used inside, for example in the engine room and engineering space. “We can investigate incidents by checking the recordings. This reduces the need for routine tours, in person, of various parts of the vessel. The exterior MIC cameras monitor the ice and the vessels for which we are breaking ice; the ones on the stern monitor distances to other vessels. Even under the arctic conditions of the Baltic Sea, the Bosch cameras work perfectly,” says Captain Järvelin.

All the cameras and recording equipment are controlled and operated via the Bosch Video Management System (BVMS), which is rarely seen in marine applications. Focus, zoom, horizontal- and vertical-pitch features are indispensable, and the MIC cameras have wipers for adverse weather conditions that can be actuated from the bridge. At the top of the mast, a 360-degree MIC IP camera operates flawlessly, even in darkness. Bosch’s MIC IP cameras are ideal for extreme weather. They can stand up to high winds, rain, fog, 100 percent humidity, temperatures as low as -40°C to as high as +65°C, extreme vibrations, high impacts and even corrosion.