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Issue 1 2014 Freight Business Journal


///SECURITY


Freight industry looks for a secure future Chris Lewis reports from this year’s Transport Security Expo in London.


Is the freight industry ready if the terrorists play dirty?


The maritime industry cannot afford to be complacent about the threat of a ‘dirty bomb’, a security expert told a recent conference in London. Just because no terrorist had so far managed to plant a chemical, biological, radioactive or nuclear (CBRN) device in the midst of a major population centre using a ship or a container did not mean that they ever would, learned delegates to the Transport Security Expo in London on 13 November. Quite apart from the direct


effects of such a device, the effect that they could have on the operation of a port – or several ports – could be equally harmful, given the UK and Europe’s dependence


on imported foodstuffs. If there was mass panic, could the ports carry on operating? Defending against an attack


from the sea is difficult. Coastlines are long and, even where there is a credible threat, how do the security agencies go about searching a massive bulk vessel or 8,000 containers? In one of the few CBRN alerts in British waters recently, security forces found themselves wading through several thousand tonnes of sticky sugar-beet on board the MV Nisha. There are also the effects of


widespread pollution to consider. The authorities do what they


can, running exercises and carrying out risk assessments but


with limited resources. Inevitably, governments are unwilling to lavish large sums of public money on theoretical threats. And whereas threats to the security of air travellers has got governments’ attention, there does seem to be a degree of ‘sea blindness’ to potential threats to ports and ships. Also, as a spokesman for the UK Department for Transport pointed out, there does have to be a balance between deterring terrorists and overburdening the freight industry with over-onerous measures. If the country’s supply chain grinds to a halt as a result, the terrorists will have achieved their object.


Port security at the sharp end


Plenty of port security plans exist on paper, but are they really getting through to the people at the sharp end – security managers


to chivvy people along. These are the issues that a


and their officers,


asks Henk van Unnik. “Ports introduced security plans in the wake of 9-11 and the introduction of ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) but many of them are ‘paper tigers’ And too many countries still have a perception that terrorism won’t happen to them.” In Europe, for instance, there is no equivalent to the US Department of Homeland Security at the EU


new Port Security Management System (PSMS) aims to address when it is introduced in Europe from next year. Henk van Unnik, a highly experienced port


security


expert, is a committee member of SUPPORT (Security Upgrade for Ports) which is part-funded by the European Commission’s FP7 Security Research Programme. PSMS is led by Henk van Unnik and supported, delivered and trialled in conjunction with BMT in the UK, Securitas AB in


Sweden and eBOS Technologies in Cyprus. “The programme found


that we needed to upgrade the capacity of port security officers and to ensure that facilities had proper


security assessments


and that they were maintained,” Henk van Unnik told FBJ. PSMS, he said, would be the first tool of its kind to incorporate an up-to-date, self-assessment guide to help maritime security practitioners upgrade their corporate security. It comprises five modules to


enable security professionals to review and upgrade


security


plans to address terrorist threats; a corporate security module which addresses to


risks processes


and procedures; an


e-learning


education and e x amina ti o n module


on best practices of ISPS related maritime


based security


e duc a t ion including


drills


Airline industry needs to refocus on cargo


Ever since Lockerbie and 9-11, the airline industry has been obsessed with screening passengers and their baggage but has put relatively little effort into securing cargo. However, recent events, notably the Yemen ‘printer cartridge bomb’ incident in which explosive devices were smuggled onto express parcels operator aircraſt, have shown that it remains a very real threat. This was the assessment of


Matthew Finn, managing director of Swiss-based airports and ports security consultancy Augmentiq, in opening the Air Cargo session at the Transport Security Expo in London on 14 November. “The Yemen incident showed that there was almost a sense of complacency because it was ‘only a cargo aircraſt’” - though anyone on the ground beneath an exploding freighter might disagree. There is also, Finn adds, a worrying misconception that cargo only travels on all-cargo planes, whereas in fact 70% of it moves in the bellyholds of passenger planes, right under the feet of you, me and our loved ones. There is much that could be


done to improve air cargo security, added Kester Meijer, director of operational integrity at KLM Cargo. Among his top threats, which included rogue insiders and lithium batteries, was the fact that


and exercises; a sharing and decision support module which enables security professionals to supervise facilities via the internet and to collaborate on a local, national or global scale; and an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) security self- assessment


module which


provides a system to reach compliance and submit AEO application. PSMS could also form part of the process of gaining ISO 28000 security accreditation. There is in fact a large overlap the


between ISPS and AEO


programmes, Henk van Unnik points out and PSMS will make it possible for port operators to


many airline staff are struggling with increased workloads. “We give them more to do, but do they really pick up on what is important?” he asked. And it is still too easy for


outsiders to gain access to sensitive air cargo facilities unchallenged, as a recent incident at Amsterdam showed. Next time they could be real terrorists, with a real bomb. One of the problems with


security is that it needs the agreement of many parties, including people overseas. Efforts to step up screening rates at origin haven’t always gone down well with the authorities in places like Africa or India, who may feel that they are being unfairly targeted. That said, many handlers are waking up to the commercial advantages of becoming ‘Verified Agents’. Swiſt and smooth


communication of data is perhaps the best weapon against those who would do us ill. It was intelligence that led to the Yemeni printer cartridge bombs being intercepted, albeit once they had been loaded onto aircraſt and flown several thousand miles. The problem up till now has been the controls have been geared to customs scrutiny on arrival, not to preventing items getting on the plane in the first place. As the ‘owner’ of the data, perhaps the


quickly identify and gaps they need for AEO accreditation. There has been a great deal


of interest from ports in Europe and further afield, he adds. So far, the material has been created in English, put there are plans to translate it into main European languages such as Spanish, French and Russian. PSMS has been tested in


various European cities including Brussels,


Dublin Gothenburg,


Lisbon and Rotterdam, with more than 25 security, port security and IT experts from seven countries providing feedback and counsel. Their responses were overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic with particular


forwarder had the biggest role to play in this, said Meijer. The problem with data is that


it is produced my many different entities to different standards and making it move seamlessly is in fact very hard at times. In future, data could be the ‘critical path’ that determines whether or not a shipment flies. Good data could also be used to


detect unusual shipment patterns. At a fairly simplistic level, this is what aroused suspicions over the Yemeni bombs. Why would a company there be sending low cost items by expensive courier to an address in New York, where they are available in any office supplies store for a few dollars? Obviously, more sophisticated


data analysis could be used to detect cleverer terrorists. Howard Stone, of the European


Express Association pointed out that the integrators do indeed carry out a number of checks at various stages of the shipment process. Pick-up drivers are trained to recognise a first-time shipper, for instance, and are also asked to positively ID the shipper. As well as hand, explosive or X-ray searches en route there are also random screening operations. Even the routing of shipments can changed (while maintaining delivery schedules of course) to keep people on their toes.


interest and value being placed on the multi-faceted nature of the system. Most of the testers especially liked the fact that a Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) can access the system remotely from any location thanks to the web-based platform. PSMS will be available through


SaaS (Soſtware as a Service) with an annual subscription fee and by licence with an appropriate licence fee.


It will be available


for sale from early 2014. While the programme has been half funded by the European Commission, the plan is for the scheme to become self-funding ultimately.


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