Overview
CONTAIN will specify and demonstrate a European Shipping Containers Surveillance system which will encompass regulatory, policy and standardisation recommendations, new business models, and advanced container security management capabilities.
CONTAIN will:
- Support transport security stakeholders in managing container security threats as part of an integrated approach to the management of transportation networks;
- Provide a coherent set of technology options for screening and scanning plus container-integrated sensor,and communication and security technologies to monitor both container movements and security related parameters in real time;
- Enable ports to establish upgraded port container security processes and to provide information feeds to port community systems and national and European security databases;
- Provide information gathering, validation, fusion and situation awareness services to establish dependable near real time corridor container traffic maps, and their consequent integration into an EU Container Traffic Map for use by organisations and systems established to promote and implement an integrated EU surveillance policy;
- Assist policy makers at national and EU level to benchmark container security performance and formulate improvement policies.
The project will:
- Work actively on standardisation activities as a key enabler of cost effective solutions for shipping container security with the ultimate goal of progressing towards a single international shipping container security standard.
- Build on outputs from ongoing FP7 projects on security, freight transport and ICT, and efforts to establish integration facilities between security agencies such as FRONTEX and EMSA and other EU Platforms such as e-Customs and SafeSeaNet.
- Demonstrate Secure Multimodal Corridor Design and Chain Monitoring Control across international and European corridors at Interporto Bologna, Rotterdam/Amsterdam and Valencia.
Funding
Results
High-tech security system to streamline container shipping
The development of a new global system that tracks containers and enhances security promises to boost maritime trade and raise the sector’s standards.
Container shipping is the backbone of international trade, a pivotal sector of the economy that requires a strong surveillance system. Such a system must include transnational regulatory, policy and standardisation recommendations to enhance container security, and the required technology and software.
The EU-funded 'Container Security Advanced Information Networking' (http://containproject.com/ (CONTAIN)) project strove to develop such a surveillance system to support transport security stakeholders. It sought to advance cost-effective and efficient technology options for container-integrated sensor, communication and security hardware, and software technologies to monitor container movements in real time.
The project involved establishing corridor container traffic maps to enhance surveillance and outline secure trade lanes between the EU and some of its trading partners. More specifically, CONTAIN developed tools and methods to increase container transportation security by integrating container security data within a unified information distribution and sharing environment. It built a comprehensive toolset and software platform that comprises both equipment and risk analysis software.
To achieve its aims, the project team implemented the system in three European port cities to validate monitoring of container position, manage empty containers and further supply chain security. These demonstrations helped finalise the new risk-based approach to container targeting and scanning, including optimisation of container transport, information interoperability and exchange, and information security considerations.
The CONTAIN platform connects information sources and users, offers improved positioning, incorporates eSeal technology and employs cutting-edge container security equipment. It includes high-tech means to locate containers that have been declared as empty, minimising loss of goods and foul play.
The project’s results have been reported in the EU Containers Surveillance Framework and can serve as a starting point to rollout the new system. If this happens, it could streamline container traffic, improve the sector’s competitiveness and enhance global trade.