Article Summary
Faced with government-mandated security initiatives and intense pressure to operate as efficiently as possible, seaport managers are deploying advanced communications infrastructures to support the information systems and real-time response capabilities they need to meet these challenges. An advanced infrastructure enables seaports to handle a variety of tasks—including verifying the identity of workers, ships, and vehicles, tracking containers as they move through the port, summoning trucks, and configuring rail for "just-in-time" cargo pickups. It also gives seaports a way to generate additional revenue by selling advanced communications services to terminal operators, fuel suppliers, and other tenants.
Demands for Change
Pressure from two different quarters is compelling seaport managers to explore next- generation communications networks for their facilities. To meet new U.S. government security regulations and International Maritime Organization (IMO) safety standards, seaports will need to employ advanced information technologies to communicate with the Coast Guard, Customs, and Immigration and Naturalization Service. Under these regulations, they will also need to track containers, ships, trucks, rail cars, sailors, dock workersanything or anyone that enters the port area.
Transporting cargo in and out of the port as quickly as possible is the central purpose of seaports. Intensified competition with other ports (and with other modes of transportation) is now forcing seaports to operate more efficiently. Container handling is a critical component. Reducing the number of times a container is handled and moved ("dwell time") requires faster processing of documents and secure movement of cargo and vehicles. Efficient execution of these tasks depends on gathering and distributing real-time information in a secure manner. In this situation, port-wide digital wireless networks, digital video surveillance, and other advanced communications technologies are a must.
However, information systems at many seaports are not optimized for new digital technologies. Seaport workers often use outmoded radios that are unable to handle bandwidth-intensive applications. Yard management systems designed for old communications technology are difficult to integrate with new Customs (ACE) and other systems. The seaport and its tenants may have an assortment of marginal-to-inadequate IT systems, each requiring unique management and maintenance support. These systems are challenged to meet the requirements of new Electronic Data Interchange Internet Integration (EDI-INT), Business Process Modeling Language (BPML), Applicability Statement Two (AS2), and other, newer data transport protocols.
For these reasons, seaport managers are exploring a variety of advanced technologies to support more efficient and secure cargo movement while controlling costs. Advanced technologies provide the response times and expanded bandwidth to handle such time-sensitive and information-intensive tasks as advanced access controls, remote video surveillance, tracking of incoming and outgoing vessels, EDI document processing, and communications between highly mobile seaport workers.
The "24 Hour Rule" and Alerts for Workers
The "24-hour rule" of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 is an example of a security initiative whose implementation requires more advanced information processing capabilities than seaports have maintained in the past. This rule requires shippers to send a seaport data about a ship, its contents, and passengers a day before the ship arrives at port. To receive this data, the seaport, terminal operator, and/or broker must maintain connectivity with the port from which the ship departed. The seaport must also store this data in readily retrievable form.
Once a ship is within 25 miles of U.S. shores, its Automated Identification System (AIS) transponders send radio frequency signals to the seaport, identifying the ship and indicating its speed and time of arrival.
The seaport's information system must be able to capture these radio signals and transmit the data through the information network to notify government officials and seaport workers—such as ship chandlers, longshoremen, and ship dock workersto be available for duty. In this situation, these mobile workers can benefit greatly from more robust handheld wireless devices. Rubber Tire Gantry (RTG) cranes and other port equipment can be integrated into the wireless network to more efficiently move, store and retrieve cargos, saving on both time and equipment-use costs.
RFID Tags Speed Cargo Processing
Advanced communications systems are indispensable for handling cargo, too. Cargo must be processed quickly, with the fewest number of lifts. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are utilized on containers to make this process as efficient as possible. Container handling equipment has sensors that pick up the ID tag on the container. The information on the tag may identify the containers contents and destination. This information can then be transmitted to Customs and terminal operators via the communications network. Port documents such as the 315 message and data from Customs' Automated Management System (CMTS 309) can be made available throughout the system with data access controlled by the proper authority using strong encryption and other data security procedures.
The system can automatically update shipping and Customs records (such as Forms 350, 355, and the like), so the container can be processed, cleared, and transported as quickly as possible. Wireless technology not only speeds up this process, but also minimizes labor costs by eliminating the need for a longshoreman and other personnel to use paper forms to record the arrival and processing of containers.
GPS Aids Yard Management
Wireless networks in yards use Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to broadcast the position of a container to a lift truck, enabling the driver to locate and move the container in a timely manner. With this system, a port employee operating the Yard Management System (YMS) either in an office or in a mobile environment can easily identify and handle a particular container. Although many YMS software solutions enable visualization of container locations, low-bandwidth communications networks serving the RTGs and other equipment cannot keep up with expanding capabilities. In the future, sophisticated yard management applications will increase the demand for data throughput. This will require port networks to be more robust.
802.11 to the Rescue
Wireless networks provide the power and mobility seaports require. Because of the higher-bandwidth requirements and the need for mobility, IEEE 802.11 wireless networks will play a crucial role in the future of seaports. They will enable direct communications between cargo handlers and all points of the operation. Eventually, information about a container can go from shipboard to gantry crane, to RTG and on to the trucker, railhead, access control systems and out the gate.
Automated Worker Identification Boosts Security
Advanced wireless and wired networks will enable video surveillance security to be integrated with access controls to more efficiently use the new Transportation Worker Identity Card (TWIC). Federal government security requirements will be best served when video surveillance of the port, ships, (and personnel) is integrated into the access control system. For example, security officials would be able to pull down an image of a departing truck along with the picture of the driver and coordinate that with cargo, destination and other critical information ensuring integration of several layers of security.
With TWIC, biometric and photo information about the worker will have to be stored on the network at the seaport, and be available instantly at the seaports points of ingress and egress. Storage Area Networks (SANs) will aid in this task. A SAN can quickly make available frequently accessed informationa driver is likely to use the same port over and overmaking it easy to instantly verify the identify of personnel entering the port. It is essential to have appropriate networks in place before TWIC is implemented. If a network serving the seaport access control point is not powerful enough to process TWIC information quickly, trucks could back up on highways leading to the seaport.
Communicating with Trains and Trucks
Advanced networks can also help enable more efficient management of the trucks and rail networks that support seaports, speeding the processing of cargo. The Port of Tacoma, Washington, developed its own information technology that connects to the communications network of the Union Pacific and other railroad services. Real-time communications between the port and rail marshalling yards help manage the formulation, arrival and departure of trains coming at a port, thereby optimizing cargo flow and driving efficient use of equipment.
For example, North Carolina ports rely on satellite truck parks to stage ground transportation. Modern Wide Area Networks (WAN) support fast information exchange between the port and the truck parks. This guarantees an efficient flow of transport into the port, minimizing congestion and maximizing equipment usage. Again, efficient use of information technology enables rapid movement of cargo. Instead of arriving at the port and waiting for hours to receive cargo, a truck only departs for the port when its driver has been notified that the port is ready to load the truck.
Selling Information Services to Tenants
In addition to meeting the networking requirements for security mandates and providing tools to help cargo move as quickly as possible, an advanced information system can generate revenues for the seaport authority. With such a system, port authorities can provide tenants with basic information technology services as well as physical facilities and security. By installing a consolidated IP network, they can provide tenants with SANs, Internet access, video conferencing, IP telephony and other applications that would be far more expensive for tenants to acquire and manage themselves. Clearly, the consolidation of networks inside ports can lower costs for everyone, while generating revenue for the seaport authority.
Future Directions
Over the next 20 years, demands on U.S. seaport capacity will double. However, most major seaports cannot grow larger. Land costs, environmental concerns, and limitations on inter-modal infrastructures will not permit significant expansion. To meet the increased demand for cargo movement, seaports must become more efficient through the use of modern information technology.
With an advanced communications infrastructure in place, its likely that a wealth of new cost-saving applications will emerge. Wireless applications in particular, will play an expanded role in seaport communications. Secure networks with integrated storage, security, and other operational innovations will enhance competitiveness and provide significant return on investment (ROI) for forward-thinking port authorities, terminal operators, and other port service providers
December 1, 2003
About the Author
Michael O'Hara Garcia is the Cisco Systems Strategic Manager for the Federal Government. Garcia served as Senior Technology Advisor for a Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, CIO of the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency, and Chief of Program Evaluations at the United States Information Agency (USIA).
