Access control
Platform — Access control validates every passenger, vehicle, crew member and contractor at the ramp, tracks who is on board, and produces the departure manifest, built to the ISPS code and fully functional offline.
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platform
BORA Systems is a ferry operations platform built in Tallinn, Estonia — 33 modules across 6 functional categories, each on its own microservice with a local API. Certified to ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR-compliant. As of 2026, in daily service across three regions: the Baltic, the Channel Islands and the Persian Gulf. Access control is built to the ISPS Code, which the IMO adopted in 2002 and which has been in force since 2004.
What does it do?
Every person who boards a BORA-run vessel is checked at the ramp against a real boarding right — a ticket, a crew assignment, a contractor pass. Access control performs that check, records it, and turns the sum of those checks into one authoritative answer to a single question: who is on this ship right now.
Access control answer is the departure manifest. When the ramp closes, the master has an exact record of everyone aboard, and so does any authority entitled to ask. The same record drives headcount, muster reconciliation and the security obligations a passenger vessel carries under international law.
Access control does this whether or not the terminal has a network connection. Validation happens on the handheld at the ramp; the record catches up to the rest of the system when the link returns.
How does it work?
At the ramp
A handheld terminal scans each ticket or pass and confirms the boarding right on the spot. Valid, already used, wrong sailing — the operator sees which in the moment, and the scan is recorded even with no network.
On board
Each validated boarding updates the count of who is aboard. The number the crew works from is the number the ramp produced, not a manual tally reconciled later.
At departure
When the ramp closes the manifest is finalised — an exact record of everyone on board at that moment, available to the master and to any authority that requires it.
For crew & contractors
Crew and contractors pass the same ramp and turnstile hardware as passengers, checked against their own boarding rights, so the manifest covers everyone aboard rather than ticketed passengers alone.
What does it connect to?
Access control feeds boardings from the ramp validator, reads and writes boarding rights against a port authority system, a national maritime register, or an operator's own system, and shares its record with Sales and Reporting.
Access control runs on standard handheld terminals and turnstile hardware, not proprietary devices.
Which standards does it meet?
ISPS Code — the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2002 and in force since 2004. It sets the security requirements a passenger vessel and its port facility must meet, including controlling who boards and maintaining an accurate record of who is aboard. Access control is built to those requirements: the validation at the ramp and the departure manifest are the parts of an operator's ISPS obligations this module carries.
Personal data is processed under GDPR. Manifests are retained for the period the operator specifies, and where a line runs on-premise, no passenger data leaves the operator's own infrastructure.
What are its limits?
What it deliberately does not do:
- Access control does not issue government identity documents. It validates boarding rights; it is not a source of ID.
- Access control does not verify a person against state registers. It checks the boarding right presented, not the identity behind it.
- Access control does not perform biometric access. Validation is by ticket or pass, not by face or fingerprint.
Frequently asked questions
Does boarding validation work without a network?
Yes. Handheld scanners validate every passenger at the ramp fully offline, and reconcile with the system once the link is back.
Does Access control support ISPS compliance?
Yes. It is built to the requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, which the IMO adopted in 2002 and which has been in force since 2004.
What hardware does it run on?
Standard handheld terminals and turnstile hardware. It does not require proprietary devices.
Does it issue identity documents or run biometric checks?
No. It validates tickets and boarding rights and produces the manifest; it does not issue government ID, verify against state registers, or perform biometric access. Those are deliberately out of scope.
Can it check crew and contractors as well as passengers?
Yes. Crew and contractors are validated on the same ramp and turnstile hardware as passengers, against their own boarding rights.
What does it produce for departure?
The departure manifest — a record of exactly who is on board at the moment the ramp closes, available to the master and to any authority that requires it.
See Access control on live data
A 30-minute walkthrough, from a web booking to the ramp closing.
Akadeemia tee 15a, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia