Spotting a person overboard or an unlit vessel at night is one thing; keeping the searchlight beam trained on that target while the crew organizes the recovery or docking maneuver is another. SEA.AI and American manufacturer Carlisle & Finch have therefore decided to make their two systems work together.
Published 25/09/2026
The integration combines Sentry, SEA.AI’s artificial vision system, with Carlisle & Finch’s SmartVIEW Gateway. Sentry’s thermal and low-light cameras use artificial intelligence to detect and identify a person in the water, an unlit vessel or a floating object. Once the operator selects the target, its position and tracking data are transmitted to SmartVIEW: the searchlight automatically points toward it and then keeps its beam trained on it as it moves.
The benefit is particularly clear during a nighttime search operation. Once the person has been spotted, the crew no longer has to control the searchlight manually using its joystick and can concentrate on handling the boat, communications and preparing the recovery. The same principle can also be used to track a vessel during a surveillance operation.
The system is said to be compatible with the entire Carlisle & Finch searchlight range, from small LED models to powerful xenon searchlights designed for larger vessels.
SEA.AI and Carlisle & Finch will present this new integration at the 2026 NMEA Conference & Expo, taking place from September 29 to October 1 in Texas.
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