Fenced in

“Whatever you put in place, there will always be a way over or through it - if there’s a fence, there will always be a bigger ladder,” says Andy Watson of CDA Solutions. His point is a big fence is good – but you also need the technology to back it up.

“While you can, for example, run a laser beam along the top of the fence to detect motion, I wouldn’t recommend having a sensor that just sets off an alarm, as it means that someone has to go out and investigate. And since you do get false alarms, eventually you get to the point where people just ignore them. So I would say it always has to be linked to a camera system which you can set to spin and have a look – either on manual or automatic control.”

The nitty gritty is the cost. Mr Watson says: “For a medium-sized operation, with all the fencing and turnstiles etc, I would think put aside at least £250,000: you can easily spend £20,000 to £30,000 on camera system alone, while good quality fencing is itself around £300 per metre. Then the there are the extras, like laser beams and so on.”

But worldwide ports have little option but to cough up for adequate perimeter protection with anti-terrorism laws making their presence felt on port perimeter developments: “Legislation is making the port authorities take security a lot more seriously. Before this, it was at the discretion of the port," says Mr Watson.

Despite the International Ship and Port Facility Security code, Raphael Kahn of Australian company Secure Marine thinks some ports are still leaving themselves vulnerable: “The new code doesn’t actually require anything more than a fence. This leaves you open to problems with everything from vandalism and stealing to larger security problems.”

Mr Kahn adds: “The main issue with a normal fence is that anyone can cut through or climb over.” He says that most ports have 2.5 metre high fence, maybe with barbed wire on top, “but it is really window dressing, as anyone can just cut a hole and walk in”. He goes on to say that beyond the somewhat elusive terrorist threat, ports do have real security issues: “Once you are in a port you have access not just to the ships but to the containers, and it is not just full containers that can be targeted, empty containers are still shipped round the world and can be used for smuggling everything from drugs to guns.”

Which still leaves a port trying to balance threats against costs. However, there are ways to minimise the price.

Mr Watson says: “One way to keep the price down is to divide yourself up – shift the security measures to the parts that actually need it most. People on the logistics side often don’t strictly have to be part of the security rules – which keeps the larger amount of footfall away from the high-security area.” A smaller area is simply easier to secure, he adds, and it also reduces the overheads on security staffing – worth it despite the extra fencing aisle that has to be introduced.

Mr Kahn takes a different line, saying that adding “effective” deterrents to existing fencing can keep installation times down and minimise the disruption to the port. He suggests using something such as 9,000 Volt shockwire. “It frightens, and while not being dangerous it is painful.” Further, he adds: “The shockwire plus an alarm system is a very robust and reliable combination in ports which are prone to salt water, winds and exposed conditions.”

One area that everyone seems to agree on is the need to automate as much as possible: people just aren’t as good as machines when coping with long stretches of rote tasks. As Mr Watson says, where you put a human in the loop, there are always going to be loopholes.

Mr Kahn points out inside a normal control room its standard to see a lot of monitors, each screen showing six to eight pictures, with an operator or two that are supposed to keep their eyes on them for hours on end. ”Realistically, it is simply not going to happen - you can’t expect people just to sit and look at the same TV pictures all the time.”

Secure Marine developed a video-analytics add-on to the CCTV, which automatically detects intruders, generating an alarm and enlarging the picture to show the area in detail on the computer monitor.

Cameras with this kind of enhancement can cover sensitive areas of the seaway as well at the landside operations, explains Mr Kahn, adding: “it doesn’t just act as ‘perimeter’ detection: you can set it up to monitor any closed areas inside the port.”

CDA have come up with another cost saving on this level – a PC net-based camera system, which keeps the amount of expensive bespoke equipment to a minimum and replacements and upgrades easy. Further, Mr Watson says: “since the pictures are available through the web, you can have several responsible people dotted all over the site rather than concentrating it in a one control room with just one guy looking at everything. You can add other guards looking at the points that are relative to them – and if the harbour master wants one more look over from home before he turns in, he can do just that.

There is one part you can’t really get around, though – secure fences are no good without secure gates. Another argument for automation of as much as possible is that vehicles move a lot more quickly with fobs or number-plate recognition rather than relying on security guards to recognise vehicles or make documentation checks.

Mr Watson says that it can be a complicated and sensitive business getting workers in and out. “Fobs can be exchanged between people, and a single code is even worse as it just gets passed on.” However, individualised codes and fobs can be linked to the payroll, as well as incorporating an anti-pass back feature which can’t be used for another entry unless an exit is registered first.

On top of which there are usually multiple routes in and out of a port – plus the queues that inevitably come about from workers entering or leaving on the same shifts. “You have to have more than a single pedestrian turnstile working – it only takes one little problem and the whole queue gets snarled.

And here’s the rub. If a pedestrian gate totally fails, you just have to open it up. Mr Watson explains, “A similar system in a normal business is not mission critical – on a port where you have to log everything, it just has to work, you haven’t got an alternative, So, you are totally reliant on the technology.”

Mr Watson explains that because of this, an installation is often only as good as its maintenance contract. “Ports want to know they have you there if they need you,” he says.