ŠĻą”±į>ž’ KMž’’’J’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ģ„Į5@ ųæ .bjbjĻ2Ļ2 .<­X­X &’’’’’’ˆ²²²²²²²ĘNNNN Z$Ę½ ¶ŠLÖÖÖÖÖÖÖ< > > > > > > $s!RÅ#|b ²ÖÖÖÖÖb ²²ÖÖw Ö ²Ö²Ö< Ö<  ²² Ö~ ą¾¤]4ĀNą  <  0½  A$äź(%% ĘĘ²²²²%%² ÖÖÖÖÖÖÖb b ĘĘD D ĘĘ HEAD Container scanners DECK X-rays, gamma rays, bio-imaging - which are the best technologies to see if a container has any weapons inside, and do they cause any harm to personnel? Tim Power reports BODY Before September 11th 2001, supply chain security efforts concentrated on theft, piracy and drug smuggling. Since then, the threat from terrorism has been uppermost in peoples’ minds, particularly in the USA. This threat has been encapsulated in the idea of the ‘Bomb in a Box’, an idea given frightening credibility when, in October 2001, Italian authorities found a suspected Al Qaeda operative locked inside a container bound for Canada. The challenge of finding the individual box containing threat is daunting to say the least. 17,000 deep-sea containers enter the US every day. An obvious answer to the problem would seem to be to increase dramatically the level of import container inspections, but the US cannot afford to put the brakes on the flow of trade; the risks are untold economic damage to itself and its trading partners. On the other hand, the consequences of failure to detect are, of course, far worse. Not only could there be horrific loss of life but also, as Robert Bonner, Commissioner of US Customs, points out, devastating economic repercussions. “Simply put, the shipping of sea containers would stop, claimed Mr. Bonner. “The American people would not likely permit one more sea container to enter the United States until there was a significantly greater assurance - such as 100% inspections - that no additional terrorist weapons would be smuggled into the country. “Governments in other major industrial countries would no doubt adopt a similar policy, bringing the global economy to its knees.” The fate of the airlines post-9/11 makes chilling reading and no one engaged in maritime trade wishes to share it. Smarter approaches are required that achieve improved security while minimising the economic impact. The problem boils down to finding out what is inside a box without slowing the flow of cargo through a port. Physical inspection on a large scale is clearly not an option; a full out-turn of a container takes, on average, two hours for a gang of four men. Physically inspecting all inbound containers to the US would require a workforce of over 25,000 and more importantly, would bring the country’s ports to a standstill. The information contained in carriers’ manifests is also not a great help; lines rely on shippers to provide information on the contents of all full-load containers and routinely clause bills of lading ‘Shipper’s Load Stow and Count’. This means that, while in the vast majority of cases this information will be accurate, it is easy to falsify. The problem of detection is, of course, not confined to container shipping. The airline industry has been confronting this challenge since hijacking began and has used various kinds of scanners to find weapons of all kinds in baggage. The use of scanners is now growing in container shipping too. SUBHEAD Scanners The Heimann Systems Group is a large provider of scanning equipment whose product range includes the typical airport hand-luggage scanner, metal detectors and biometrics. It also offers a range of X-Ray scanning equipment for the inspection of vehicles and containers called Cargo Vision. Cargo Vision uses high energy X-Rays that are able to penetrate up to 380mm of steel to create an image of the contents of the container. This image is analysed with the help of additional tools such as dedicated edge enhancement, filters, zoom and pseudo-colours, all of which help to pick out suspicious zones in a consignment. The process of scanning and analysis starts when the vehicle driver checks in at the scanning station and presents the cargo manifest. This is fed into the Cargo Vision system and provides the basis for checking discrepancies. The vehicle is then driven onto a conveyor, which takes it through the scanning area as the image is captured. The operator views the image from above or from either side and with the image enhancement tools mentioned above, looks for suspicious objects and deviations from the manifested contents. When the analysis is complete and the container is declared clear, the vehicle and attached container are free to proceed on their journey. The whole process takes 10-15 minutes, most of which is taken up by analysis; the conveyor can handle up to 27 containers per hour. Cargo Vision comes in various shapes and sizes: from the very big HCV Stationery fixed facility; to the truck mounted HCV Mobile. Naturally, the fixed facilities are higher energy (up to 9 MeV), while power and penetration are lower on the mobile installations (2.5 MeV and 200 mm). There are HCV Stationary installations in ports such as Hamburg, Rotterdam and Yokohama and others, with more scheduled for delivery in 2002 and 2003. Other suppliers are also active: Bio-Imaging Research Inc. (BIR) in partnership with Japan’s IHI, has recently been awarded a contract by the Japanese Ministry of Finance to supply large X-Ray cargo inspection facilities to the ports of Kobe and Osaka. BIR will provide the radiology sub-systems including 9 MeV vertical and horizontal beams, linear detector systems and workstations. SUBHEAD SAIC Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) uses gamma rays as the energy source for its Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS). Instead of using a power source to generate high energy X-Rays, VACIS uses a radioactive isotope to generate a beam of gamma rays that is tightly focused on the detector. These gamma rays are themselves high energy and exhibit levels of penetration comparable with high energy X-Ray equipment. Gamma ray detectors are inherently more sensitive than X-Ray detectors and therefore capture more data, more quickly. The result of this combination is a much smaller installation that handles traffic faster. SAIC reports that VACIS can scan a 40 inch container in less than ten seconds, giving a typical inspection cycle time of one to two minutes. A recent demonstration of a gamma-ray system at the Port of Miami, which is using VACIS to support its campaign against car theft, resulted in the inspection of over 1300 TEU in a single shift. If this kind of productivity is sustainable, it holds out the possibility of achieving significantly higher inspection percentages without impeding the flow of trade. SUBHEAD Bio imaging research Barry Smith, development manager of Illinois based bio-imaging research (BIR) also reports high productivity. “We are inspecting 20 containers per hour in Japan,” he says. He also points out the importance of image resolution. “High Energy X-ray sources (linear accelerators) have finer focal spots that an equivalent chunk of cobalt,” he says. “The resolution is a factor of the source spot size, detector pitch and signal-to-noise ratio. “BIR manufactures detectors with 1.4 mm, 2.3 mm and 4.6 mm detector pitch. In typical systems, these give resolutions in the cargo of 1.1 mm, 1.8 mm and 3.6 mm respectively.” SUBHEAD US Customs Scanning technology forms an integral part of US Customs’ Container Security Initiative, which aims to screen inbound containers before they reach the US. US Customs’ Commissioner Bonner describes the logic for attacking the problem at origin. “Even if we select a container for inspection by x-ray technology at the port of entry on the suspicion that it contains a weapon of mass destruction, by that time it could be too late. “And that is fundamentally why we need to push our zone of security back further in the importation process.” This means US Customs taking an active role at origin. The four core elements of CSI are: establishing security criteria to identify high-risk containers; catching high-risk containers before they arrive at U.S. ports; using technology to quickly pre-screen or inspect high-risk containers; and developing and using smart and secure containers. Technology will play an important role throughout the chain. US Customs’ Automated Targeting System (ATS) sorts through the vast Automated Manifest System (AMS) looking for anomalies and flagging high-risk consignments. Bonner says, “This system has functioned as Customs' main method of picking the needles out of the haystacks, and it has served us very well.” Consignments flagged in this way would be inspected at origin ports using the latest scanning machines and radiation detectors. Bonner envisions the electronic sharing of images obtained through the use of detection equipment, allowing consultation about anomalies detected prior to the release of the cargo for its destination overseas. This technology is not cheap. BIR says that a high energy X-Ray system of the type it and IHI are installing in Kobe costs in the range 2 to 4 million dollars. SAIC estimates that costs for a gamma ray system are typically half that of an X-Ray equivalent. On a more encouraging note, Heimann points out that the outlay can be recouped, “Previous experience has shown that investment in a stationary HCV system repays itself within a short time. For example, the additional customs duties from discovered smuggled goods cover the purchase sum of the system many times in less than one year.” This sounds like the best news in the whole security field to date – buy the tools to thwart the terrorists and get the criminal fraternity to foot the bill! BOX: Useful Websites The Heimann Systems Group http:// HYPERLINK "http://www.heimann.com" www.heimann.com Cargo Vision http:// HYPERLINK "http://www.heimanncargovision.com" www.heimanncargovision.com Bio-Imaging Research Inc. http:// HYPERLINK "http://www.bio-imaging.com" www.bio-imaging.com SAIC http:// HYPERLINK "http://www.saic.com" www.saic.com >Bęč) " w Łž$M&o&0*…+!-U-\-]--‚-ƒ-’-“-„-¬-­-Ü-Ż-Ž-ų-ł-...E.F.G.Z.[.e.l.m.Ž...œ.. .üųüóüķüķüķüķüķüēŻēŠŻēŻüēŻēĆŻēŻüēŻē¶ŻēŻüēŻē©ŻēŻüj‹hj 0JUj¶hj 0JUjÅhj 0JUjhj 0JUjhj 0JU hj 0J hj aJ hj H*hŪQhj /ĖĢĶĪÓ¦ §  ‘ ! 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