ELECTRIC FENCE FOR SHIPS
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Caption: an electric fence guards the ship

Secure Marine (www.secure-marine.com), a consultancy based in Rotterdam, has developed a special electric fence for ships.

The fence comprises 5 wires, going completely around the ship. It has been tested in gales and hurricane winds. It is designed to be installable and removeable by the seafarers while at sea; the company estimates that it can be installed in one person day and removed in two person hours. 

The system can be completely installed on a typical merchant ship for 20-25,000 euros and uses only 100 watts of power (the same as a typical domestic lightbulb). It is supplied with a training video to show seafarers how to install it.

Unfortunately it cannot be used onboard ships carrying flammable materials (including tankers) because the live electric cables can start a fire. 

Using technology originally developed for prisons, the fence pulses at 9,000 volts. The pulses are short enough to throw off anyone touching the fence, such as pirates trying to get onboard, without killing them.

The system can also be set to operate at just 12.5 volts if required, which although not enough to throw off anyone trying to get onboard can still trigger an intruder alarm. 

If the pirates are clever enough to cut the cable, it still triggers a warning alarm, whether operating at 12.5V or 9,000V. But it would still require much more than a normal pirate knife or pliers to cut a live 9,000 cable without getting a shock. 

The company will be marketing the product to merchant shipping, naval shipping, yachts and also barges, particularly those running in piracy hotspots of South America, Africa and South East Asia. 

Shipmasters can keep the system on permanently, or alternatively just use it when sailing through danger spots in hours of darkness. When the ship is at port they might choose to only have one side of the fence powered, for example to stop stowaways climbing on board the ship from the dock. 




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