Serpro to create biometric platform for Brazil’s cruise industry

Brazil’s largest state-owned IT services corporation Serpro is developing a new digital platform for the country’s cruise tourism industry, designed to streamline boarding for passengers and crew members with biometric technology.

Serpro, known as Serviço Federal de Processamento de Dados (Federal Data Processing Service), is creating the solution with the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) and other government agencies. The system will rely on facial recognition and is set to be introduced as early as the next cruise season, which begins in late October 2026, according to Minister Sílvio Costa Filho.

“In the case of cruise ships, we realized that we needed to reduce passenger boarding times, which can take up to three or four hours due to the large number of people,” Filho said at the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Brazil 2025 Forum, held earlier in September.

The Brazilian cruise industry handles more than 800,000 passengers a year, according to CLIA Brazil. Aside from Serpro and the Ministry, the National Secretariat of Ports and Water Transportation, cruise operators and CLIA are also involved in the project.

The platform will rely on biometric data for advanced check-in, integrating forms and requirements from relevant agencies to reduce boarding time. The solution will also incorporate Porto Sem Papel (PSP), a government platform created to reduce bureaucracy in port operations.

Serpro has already demonstrated its capabilities by developing biometric systems for the airline industry, such as Embarque + Seguro (Safer Boarding).

The airport facial recognition system was launched in 2020 with the help of the Ministry of Infrastructure (MINfra) and deployed across e-gates at Brazilian airports. The system relies on the National Traffic Department of Brazil (DENATRAN) database, which stores national drivers’ licenses.

Serpro relies on the federal government’s main biometric databases. More than 1.3 million biometric passenger validations were performed at nine different airports, with an average processing time of around one second, according to the firm.

“Our goal is to develop a platform that integrates technologies that are already successful in the air transport sector, such as biometric boarding and baggage tracking via QR code, in addition to offering real-time information to agencies such as the Federal Police, Anvisa and Vigiagro, strengthening oversight in the sector,” says Mauricio Paiva, Serpro’s Transportation Business manager.

Anvisa (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária) is the National Health Surveillance Agency, while Vigiagro (Vigilância Agropecuária Internacional) is the International Agricultural Surveillance.

Implementing biometric technology on cruise ships is also becoming popular in other areas of the world. Travel technology provider Vision-Box has been named as a supplier for a massive cruise terminal in Miami, U.S. The terminal is operated by MSC Cruises, the world’s third-largest cruise line.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Brazil  |  facial recognition  |  passenger processing  |  port security  |  Serpro