The use of GuardPoint™ Intruder Detection Systems (IDS) for the Prevention of Shipborne Parasite Drug Smuggling Activity

Targets of opportunity

Vessels of opportunity are predominantly bulk carriers and crude tankers transporting natural resources (iron ore, coal, zinc, grain, oil) to known destinations.

These are often loaded in remote facilities and the loading/unloading operations typically require many days allowing plenty time for divers to approach a vessel and work to attach a parasite container underwater.

Larger ships offer many attachment points and, the loading process is generally noisy, giving divers the ability to use tools underwater without being detected.

Ship inspection

Several methodologies are currently used to inspect vessel hulls:

• Visual search with divers;
• ROV inspections;
• Sonar scanning (e.g. when the ship enters the destination port) with multibeam sonar more successful than sidescan

Inspections carried out by law enforcement or Navy divers, can take up to 20 or more hours. Often these diver searches are not conducted in parallel with the normal loading and unloading operations as divers require that all ship activities be halted. Inspections consume valuable berth time.

Hull inspections often occur in poor visibility, limited light, and around complex structures, increasing costs. ROV's, crawlers, and imaging technology also have limitations, similar to diver searches. Divers are still necessary if something is found, even if it's a false alarm.

Intruder Detection Sonars

Intruder Detection Sonars (IDS) can be used as a drug smuggling prevention and detection tool.

IDSs are acoustic sonar systems, which, when coupled with specialised software, are used for:

• Detection
• Tracking and classification of enemy divers
• Submerged diver/swimmer delivery vehicles (DDVs / SDVs) and AUVs

IDSs are commonly used to perform underwater surveillance of sensitive installations and critical infrastructure such as:

• Nuclear facilities
• LNG terminals
• Offshore energy platforms
• Superyachts
• Cruise ships
• Naval vessels, etc.
  

GuardPoint Intruder Dection sonars

NORBIT GuardPoint^TM Intruder Detection Systems are delivered with NORBIT Tracking Software, which uses sophisticated computer processing and algorithms.

Operators with little or no prior sonar experience can be trained to navigate on the intuitive and user-friendly interface.

The system can automatically detect and classify threats, providing an operator with actionable threat information (position and time to target) while minimising false alarms.

Intruder Detection Examples

First Simulated long-range attack:

A diver is swimming towards a ‘target’ bulk carrier.
Sonar: GuardPoint 70

Location: Maritime Defence and Technology Hub in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Water depth 7-10m
Typical challenges incl: hourly changes to temperature, tidal variations, and vessel traffic

The Guardpoint Tracking software generated alarms and tracked the diver within 2 minutes of the diver entering the water, tracking the diver's threat uninterrupted up to the 'bulk carrier’, a distance of approximately 500m.

Second long-distance exercise

A scuba diver is entering the open ocean and swimming to the target vessel, while remaining submerged for about 40 minutes.
Continuous detection and tracking began at about 600m. Very shallow waters transiting a deeper channel, created many reverberations (noise). These conditions along with a water temperature of 23C°, made for an excellent analogue to typical parasite drug attachment locations.

Third exercise: Detecting divers in a shallow area, utilising GuardPoint 100.

GuardPointTM 100 features electronically steerable narrow transmit beam technology, which offers long-range detection and tracking in shallow waters.

Divers approaching from around a masking jetty wall in a very shallow part of the harbour.