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NH Plays Key Role in Cargo Container Security

SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
Union Leader Staff
December 19, 2004

Some time next spring, a shipment of boiler equipment bound for Londonderry, N.H., will leave Europe on a cargo container ship, headed for the port of Montreal. What happens to it en route could have major implications for the American economy and national security.

Buderus Hydronic Systems of Londonderry, which manufactures residential and commercial hot water heating equipment, has agreed to participate in the next phase of an international experiment designed to monitor cargo container security.

It's the follow-up to a 2002 test quietly conceived and implemented by a small group of forward-thinking officials in New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada who were concerned about cargo container security.

In that "beta" test, officials designed and installed rudimentary tracking equipment on a cargo container that originated in Slovakia and traveled by ship to the port of Montreal. In Canada, the container was loaded onto a truck that delivered it three weeks later to Osram Sylvania in Hillsborough.

In a press conference held at the time, New Hampshire's U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono, who co-chairs the Northeast working group, said what officials learn from tests like these could have worldwide applications. "Like the first-in-the-nation primary, New Hampshire is first in the nation to explore cargo container security," he said.

Now there's a second Northeast test planned, and once again New Hampshire is set to play a key role.

Avoiding total shutdown

Holger Hinse is operations manager for Buderus Hydronic Systems. He said his company was happy to help.

Hinse said the company has four manufacturing plants in Europe, three in Germany and one in the Netherlands. All ship their products and parts to North America through the port of Montreal, and from there, the containers are trucked down I-89 and on to Londonderry.

The company imports approximately 750 such containers a year, and ships out $250,000 worth of merchandise every day from its Londonderry warehouse.

Hinse said his company has a vested interest in making sure the global cargo container system is safe and reliable. "We don't want a second 9/11," he said.

Experts say the worst-case scenario is that the nation's intelligence community gets information that a weapon of mass destruction is on a cargo container ship bound for America. Without any way of identifying which of the approximately 16 to 18 million containers moving around the world at any given time carries the threat, officials might have no choice but to shut down the shipping lanes while containers are searched, an almost unimaginably huge task.

And that, experts say, could trigger a global recession.

Dependent on imports

What would it mean to Buderus Hydronic Systems? "That would mean we are running out of product in three weeks," Hinse said.

"If a kit of a boiler is 10 parts and you're running out of one part, you cannot sell the whole boiler," he explained. "In the end it will hurt us immensely if something happens and we won't receive containers."

"The United States business and economy, they are so dependent on imports," Hinse said. "They cannot really afford this way (of shipping) simply shut down."

"So whatever helps to make this more secure, sure, we'll help them."

Raymond Gagnon, a former U.S. marshal for New Hampshire, was a member of the Northeast working group that came up with the plan. He is now the project's director, working with the Center for Infrastructure Expertise in Portsmouth.

Gagnon said the Buderus Hydronic shipment is one of three tests in the next phase of the project.

A Maine distillery that ships through the Canadian port of Halifax is also on board, and now that New York State officials recently announced they are joining the Northeast working group, they are looking for an upstate New York company to participate. They may send one shipment by rail and another by a smaller feeder ship, to test various segments of the supply chain.

Real-time tracking

Project leaders say the next phase will use more updated and sophisticated technology. Colantuono said the next test will use "a much more powerful battery," and rely on GPS technology to track the shipping container in real time.

They'll also use improved sensor technology. "What we're talking about is building an in-container sensor system that's going to integrate with satellite communication equipment," Gagnon explained.

Their technical partners this time around are scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, an applied science lab that is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Thanks to their efforts, Gagnon said, "What we have is the capability of detecting everything from a human heartbeat to highly-enriched uranium inside that container."

"The sensor will be inside the container and it will then be sealed at the point of departure from the factory gate."

At various points along the route, the sensor can send "home" a message, telling project managers where the shipment is and that no one has tampered with it. They also will be able to send data from the container's sensors to a secure Web site, where it could be accessed by law enforcement authorities.

Private sector participation

Gagnon wants to hold a drill to coincide with the spring test that would involve first-responders on both sides of the border reacting to a live training exercise.

"No one else is talking about developing that kind of step," he said.

Gagnon said Livermore scientists are intent on designing a system that would be cost-effective enough for the private sector to embrace. Among their projects: Creating crane-mounted radiation detectors that would scan containers as they are lifted off a ship.

The ultimate vision is to create a secure system of trusted shippers who voluntarily install security and tracking equipment on their shipping containers.

Bliss explained many businesses are already investing in tracking equipment to monitor the whereabouts of their inventory. He said Wal-Mart has told its top 100 suppliers they must install radio-frequency identifiers on their products.

"At some point, years from now, maybe that same technology for a company to improve its mobility and inventory capabilities will be applied on the safety side," Bliss said.

"Who would have thought 15 years ago that almost every car in the United States conceivably could have an On-Star system on it, because the costs were driven down and the systems were in place to make that work?"

What is the trigger?

Bliss believes there is among the private and public sector interests alike "a heightened sense this is a vulnerability that needs to be hardened." But the former state fire marshal acknowledges it may take another attack to trigger changes.

"I know from years in the fire service, we didn't start requiring sprinklers in hotels until we had half a dozen serious hotel fires around the world that killed a lot of people," he said. "We didn't have requirements for places of assembly until you have the Coconut Grove fire and other fires like that."

Gagnon said the ideal is to create incentives for sanctioned businesses to monitor their cargo security, in exchange for preferred status.

"So if you're a customs agent at the U.S.-Canadian border and this truck is coming up to you, you can say . . . that truck gets an E-Z Pass. That truck will be able to zip through," Gagnon said.

And that will allow law enforcement, customs and border patrol agents to concentrate on those containers that are not certified as secure and sanctioned.

Grant funding

For the next round of testing, the idea was for each of the partner governments to pitch in to come up with the estimated $1.1 million cost. New Hampshire's share of the cost is $300,000.

Colantuono said the governor's homeland security task force had recommended the funding, to come out of the state's portion of 2003 homeland security grant money. But Gov. Craig Benson decided not to approve the funding, and now it will be up to the incoming governor to decide whether to do so.

The U.S. Attorney hopes to meet with governor-elect John Lynch in the next few weeks to discuss the project's future and funding. And he'll ask the new governor to continue the tradition of co-chairing the Northeast working group with him.

Portsmouth's role

Portsmouth is being eyed by one entrepreneur to receive cargo coming by a small "feeder" ship from Halifax. A spokesman for Benson yesterday said the governor did not want to approve the money until the future role of the New Hampshire port is decided.

But New Hampshire has both safety and economic interests in improving the security of what comes over the border from Canada, the state's - and nation's - largest trading partner, Colantuono said. "All this stuff is traveling through our state and we need to keep a free flow of goods open."

On the other hand, he said, "Our job is to protect our borders, protect our people, and we take that job very seriously."

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