Felixstowe is home to the largest container port in the UK, and is one of the largest in Europe. The site covers over 300 hectares of land and has a large number of vehicles on site. The containers are moved around the Port using lorry cabs, or ‘Tugs’.

Port authorities needed to ensure only authorised ‘tugs’ were granted access. They needed a system that was reliable and could not be tampered with. As there were more than 350 tugs, manually granting access to the vehicles tied staff down to manual recording duties. The Port wanted them to take a pro-active security role.

Nortech delivered a system called ‘Track 2000’ vehicle tagging with Norpass2 Access Management software.

Each of the ‘tugs’ is tagged with an individually coded, water resistant transmitter. This is securely mounted onto the chassis of the vehicle and connected to the battery.

There are 23 barriers at strategic access points around the port. Each of these is equipped with a Track 2000 receiver. When a ‘tug’ drives up to the barrier, a loop in the ground identifies the transmitter and grants entry.

The data received through the Track 2000 receivers (transmitter ID, time, location etc) is passed to CRC200 controllers. These controllers are connected to the port’s Ethernet (Intranet / LAN) via TCP/IP. The system is managed through Norpass2 Access Management software running on a PC in the Port buildings.

The software manages these CRC200 controllers by holding a comprehensive database of the Track transmitters. Authorised users can manage this information through the software. All actions (access attempts) are recorded in the software allowing report generation and muster information.

As each transmitter had a unique code, the port staff are able to individually identify each vehicle and track their movements around the facilities.

View the Case Study