The world’s ports have become highly skilled in transporting people and materials around the world swiftly and effectively. Unfortunately, today’s challenge is to ensure that people or terrorist hardware are not smuggled into the system and transported equally quickly and efficiently. Global security demands global solutions, which is why ports around the world are extending their security to comply with new international safeguards.
Background
The September 2001 attacks on New York’s Twin Towers led the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to set new, more stringent standards for port security.
The result, known as the International Code for the Security of Ships and of Port Facilities (ISPS), encourages ports to monitor and control the movements of their employees and visitors more rigorously in order to deter both terrorists and smugglers.
Antwerp is Europe’s second biggest port. Of all the North Sea ports, it is the most centrally positioned with regard to Europe’s largest centres of production and consumption, and it is famous for its high productivity in cargo handling and for the quality of the services it provides. In the first quarter of 2005 alone, for instance, Antwerp handled nearly 40 million tonnes of freight and served nearly 4,000 ships.
To comply with the IMO’s new security code, the biggest operator at Antwerp, Hesse-Noord Natie (HNN), brought in leading Belgium-based systems integrator Fabricom GTI to integrate the first phase of the installation
HNN, owned by PSA, a leading global port operator based in Singapore, is one of the leading container and ro/ro (“roll on, roll off”) terminal operators in Europe, with 22 terminals in Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.
Fabricom GTI, the leading Belgian based system integrator, specialises in total security solutions, integrating every aspect of security from perimeter security and video surveillance to detecting and extinguishing fires. Fabricom GTI responded very quickly to the request from HNN to assist in compliance with the IMO code.
