BorderXpress border control kiosks deployed on passenger cruise ship

Following a five-month pilot program, Vancouver International Airport’s (YVR) Innovative Travel Solutions and Ferries del Caribe have announced the installation of two BorderXpress Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks onboard its cruise ship, the MV Kydon, which operates from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

According to a company statement, Ferries del Caribe is the only cruise operator in the world to install border control kiosks onboard a cruise ship or ferry and the pilot program showed the effectiveness of the kiosks in expediting passenger processing and improving the passenger experience. The BorderXpress kiosks can be used by U.S. citizens, U.S. legal permanent residents, Canadian citizens, travelers utilizing ESTA (Visa Waiver Program), and travelers entering with a B1/B2 or D visa.

“No matter where they are implemented, BorderXpress kiosks enable immigration officers to process more passengers per hour, reduce passenger wait times and overall operating costs, and free up border officers to focus on security, intelligence and enforcement activities,” commented Chris Gilliland, Director of ITS, Vancouver Airport Authority.

Cruise ship kiosks can connect via satellite with secured segregated VLAN for kiosk communication. Passengers using BorderXpress complete their customs declaration onscreen and scan their passport at the kiosk which then sends their encrypted information to a border control agency that returns a government response in seconds.

According to recent research from Acuity Market Intelligence, use of automated border control kiosks has increased by 71 percent CAGR over the last four years.

Article Topics

APC kiosk  |  biometrics  |  BorderXpress  |  Innovative Travel Solutions  |  passenger processing