Vessel type
Offshore: hazardous areas everywhere, and a shore station in sight
An offshore unit is the case where two of the three links are usually available at once — a microwave path to shore, and satellite for everything the path cannot carry — and where almost every camera position is inside a classified area.
Cameras where the zone decides the housing
On a platform the camera specification starts from the area classification, not from the view. Every unit in the range carries the same published marking string, Ex d IIC T6 Gb for gas and Ex tD A21 for dust, so the choice between them is mechanical: a fixed IR camera for the process deck end, a wiper PTZ where a crane or a riser deck is worked, a fisheye for a small enclosed space, a wiper bullet where the wind carries spray and soot.
Two things differ from a ship. First, the mounting is usually structural steel rather than a mast, so the bracket and the cable transit are designed with the platform, not after it. Second, the camera cannot be cleaned by walking to it — which makes the wiper and the washer not accessories but the difference between a camera that lasts a campaign and one that is written off.
Microwave first, satellite second
Where a platform has line of sight to a shore station, the documented microwave link reaches up to 100 km at 200–300 Mbps with no airtime cost. For an installation that needs CCTV backhaul plus crew data, that is usually the primary path, and satellite covers what it cannot: redundancy, and the traffic that must survive a path failure.
The TVRO side is sized for the accommodation block rather than for a single cabin: an antenna with margin for the latitude, an ACU that can be configured from the control room (the Advanced unit adds webpage setup and remote monitoring), and a CATV or IPTV layer that reaches the mess rooms and cabins.
What is different about a fixed installation
Motion is not the issue; weather and access are. A fixed platform experiences less roll and more wind loading than a ship, and the antenna is often mounted where a technician needs a permit and a harness to reach it. That argues for a larger antenna with more margin fitted once, rather than a smaller one that needs attention.
Maintenance access also decides the camera mix: fewer, better-placed units that can be reached from a walkway beat a dense layout that needs scaffolding. On an offshore unit the camera layout is a safety document as much as a security one.
Specify against these points
- Area classification of every camera position
- Line of sight to a shore station for the microwave path
- Access for maintenance — permit, harness, scaffolding
- Wind loading on a fixed structure, not roll
A typical configuration for this vessel
An example, not a quotation — the model follows the route and the footprint. Send the route and the numbers come back with the model.
Buyer questions
Offshore platforms
Is a 3-axis antenna needed on a fixed platform?+−
The axes are not the point on a fixed structure — margin and mounting are. A larger 2-axis or 3-axis model is chosen for its minimum EIRP and its ability to hold a footprint at latitude, not for heel.
Can the microwave link replace satellite entirely?+−
Only where there is a path to shore and the traffic fits within it. Redundancy is usually the reason a satellite terminal stays in the specification even when the microwave link carries the load.
How many cameras does a process deck need?+−
It follows the area layout and the escape routes rather than a count. The specification question is which positions a person must not walk to, because those are the ones that need wiping and washing rather than cleaning.
Do the cameras need dust protection as well as gas?+−
The published marking covers both — Ex d IIC T6 Gb for gas and Ex tD A21 for dust — because a process area can present either. Ask for the certificate for the classification actually drawn on your area plan.