Fighting Modern Piracy With 21st Century Technology

The pleas of shipping liners and cruise companies to remedy the most prominent maritime crime in the high seas - pirate activity - have not landed on deaf ears. The US Naval fleet announced that they will begin testing a 3D sensor system to accurately identify pirate vessels off the California coast by the summer of 2012.

The sensor system named MMSS (Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker) will be placed on a robotic UAV helicopter called Fire Scout that will be controlled by navy personnel aboard naval fleet vessels. Using mid-wave infrared sensors, high-definition cameras and the addition of a laser-radar (LADAR), the Fire Scout helicopters will provide marine military personnel with 3D images of small shipping vessels in high resolution. An automatic target recognition algorithm will make use of the 3D images taken by the LADAR and cross-reference ship dimensions with those in the Navy’s database to identify suspected marine vessels.

Whether the test will be successful or not, this effort may not be enough to permanently end pirate activity and improve maritime trade and travel safety. The naval fleet is not as large as it used to be centuries ago, and remain vastly outnumbered by pirate ships. Even with effective identification software and equipment, naval ships may not reach victimized marine vessels in time.

The help of marine software companies is needed to develop new technologies to effectively combat maritime crime in the open seas. Due to the limited number of law enforcement ships available at any given time, developing new marine software solutions - perhaps one with a wider radar range that will instantly alert both naval fleet ships and the crew of shipping liners to the presence of hostile or unknown marine vessels - will help naval fleet ships reach shipping liners before an attack even occurs.

The Need For Marine Wildlife Conservation Software

Shipping lines are constantly plagued by environmental negligence issues, particularly concerning marine wildlife such as whales. Although advanced technologies have enabled streamlining of shipping operations, marine software companies have yet to integrate marine wildlife conservation software into their systems.

Oil leaks are not the only problem faced by shipping liners. Whale deaths are frequently attributed to collisions with ships of all sizes, especially those measuring 80m or sailing at 14kn or faster.

Whale collisions have been occurring since the 1800s but until now, no effective action has been taken to prevent these accidents. Among the various whale species, the fin whales, right whales, humpback whales, sperm whales and gray whales are most frequently hit.

Researchers have tried to blast warning noises to scare off the whales, in particular the endangered right whales whose overall population is found to have only 350 animals left. But instead of moving away, the noises only attracted the whales to come near the liners, proving the experiment to be ineffective.

As a way to help preserve this whale species, a new app developed by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) called Whale Alert will help shipping liners locate the whales by linking to acoustic buoys and listening to whale calls. After locating the position of the whales, the shipping liners can then maneuver their ships in time to avoid fatal collisions.

Marine software companies should develop liner shipping software that include similar marine wildlife conservation functions. This should be a standard in all liner shipping software so that no collision accidents occur and whale species can be preserved.