 Seaports, including both freight and cruise line facilities, face a number of distinct
security challenges. Because seaports include both a seaside that cannot be
fenced and a landlocked area, port
security must account for these two vastly different terrains.
Freight
seaports handle and store thousands of large seagoing containers. For security
reasons, seaport workers are required to maintain tight control over
inventories and scan individual containers for radiation, ensuring that no
unauthorized material leaves the docks. Conversely, cruise ship seaports
accommodate cruise line passengers, serving as a loading and boarding station
for thousands of travelers, much like our country’s airports. In the wake
of September 11 and given the sheer volume of cruise line passengers, officials
identified cruise ships as high-risk terrorist targets. In addition to interior
infiltration, cruise ships are vulnerable to external, seaside sabotage. For
this reason, the Coast Guard prohibits boats and other watercraft from going
near cruise ships during boarding and disembarking.
In
light of this situation, seaports face a daunting challenge—to protect
our ports’ seaside and landside areas from unauthorized intrusions and
potential terrorist activities. For freight seaports, this means monitoring
containers, maintaining fence protection systems, ensuring cargo remains safe
and sanitized, and controlling incoming rail and truck traffic. For cruise ship
seaports, this involves maintaining a secure, boat-free perimeter around docked
cruise ships and enforcing passenger and baggage screening zones within the
seaport’s boarding terminal.
Given
that seaports cover expansive areas, live security personnel are unable to
monitor all locations at all times. But PureActiv can. PureTech
System’s wide-area surveillance and perimeter protection solution is a
‘smart’ command and control system that transforms a network of
cameras into intelligent object detection, tracking and recording sensors.
Through satellite imagery, advanced video scene analysis and an algorithm-based
detection and tracking system, the PureActiv system identifies when designated
security parameters have been violated, notifies security personnel with an
alarm, tracks and records the intrusion and provides operators with the
information they need to orchestrate an appropriate emergency response. Ideal
for seaport security, the PureActiv technology can be integrated to monitor
seaside perimeters, enforce proper passenger and baggage screening protocols,
supervise the unloading of freight containers, and guard fences on a
port’s landside perimeter.
The
PureActiv system’s powerful video analysis and detection capabilities
address the specific security challenges faced by seaports. Consider these
scenarios.
| Using
a boat, a terrorist plans to detonate explosives just as
passengers begin disembarking a docked cruise ship. |
By
integrating PureActiv with a camera or series of cameras looking outward
toward the open sea, an operator can draw a large, virtual perimeter around
the cruise ship on the system’s screen. If a boat, for example, crosses
that imaginary perimeter line, the system will alarm, notify security
personnel, and track the boat—giving emergency response teams time to
prevent the attack. |
| |
|
| A
scanner detects three containers emanating radiation at a busy freight
seaport. |
Using
PureActiv’s manual point-and-click interface, an operator can tell one
or more cameras to monitor, record and gather information about all three
containers until appropriate inspection teams arrive, preventing workers from
having to access potentially harmful, radioactive material. |
| |
|
| Three
freight workers sneak off their cargo ship in the middle of the night, attempting
to enter the country illegally. |
In
this instance, PureActiv ‘command and control’ interface can be
used as a customs management tool, wherein an operator can designate
parameters that trigger an alarm if ship workers leave a docked vessel or
scale a fence during unauthorized times, especially at night. |
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