Persons Involved

• Faculty
  • NUS
    1. Assoc Prof Cheu Ruey Long, Dept of Civil Engineering
    2. Asst Prof Lee Der Horng, Dept of Civil Engineering
    3. Asst Prof Huang Bo, Dept of Civil Engineering
    4. Assoc Prof K. Raguraman s/o Krishnasamy, Dept. of Geography
  • GT
    1. Prof Chelsea C White III, Dept of Industrial & Systems Engineering
    2. Asst Prof Alan Erera, Dept of Industrial & Systems Engineering

• Research Engineers and Research Graduate Students
  • NUS
    1. Ms Wang Yingying, Dept of Civil Engineering
    2. Dr Meng Qiang, Dept of Civil Engineering
  • GT
    1. Mr Brian Lewis, Dept of Industrial & Systems Engineering
    2. Mr James Luedtke, Dept of Industrial & Systems Engineering

Project Description

Following the events in New York City and Washington, D.C. on 11 September 2001, freight security has quickly emerged as a key concern for the international transport of cargo. There are potentially many security vulnerabilities in the movement of freight internationally, and there has been much activity to develop procedures to reduce the concomitant security risks. Of particular concern is the global freight container transportation system. Currently the dominant mode for the international movement of freight, a secure and efficient container transportation system is crucially important for the economic health of both the global economy and the economy of Singapore.

The goal of this project is to develop new methods based on information technology to provide greatly enhanced security in the complex container transportation system without compromising its efficiency. Toward this goal, this project will focus on two fundamental research initiatives:

1. Route planning, prediction, tracking, and possible interdiction of containers as they travel on the road network; and
2. Integration of security screening procedures into container port operations.

In the first initiative, state-of-the-art route planning and prediction techniques will be developed on a geographical information systems (GIS) platform to determine the best methods to route high-risk containers on the road network as they travel both between terminals within a port as well as between the port and the facilities of shippers, consignees, and freight forwarders. Container tracking and incident detection algorithms based on global positioning systems (GPS) will be developed to detect and evaluate unplanned deviations and abnormalities in container movements. Finally, advanced interdiction planning methodologies will be developed to intercept rogue high-risk shipments if detected.

In the second initiative, this project will address the question of how to integrate container security screening technologies into the global container transportation system without compromising efficiency. New container port operations decision-support models will be developed that allow integrated planning of multiple processes (i.e. ship berth assignment, unloading, stack storage, security screening, and loading). The developed models will be used to understand how to manage port security-based procedures as efficiently as possible and how new security procedures may impact port efficiency.

Collaboration Companies/Organizations

The faculty from The Logistics Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology will continue to collaborate in all projects.

Publications/Reports/Research Findings

• Lewis B. M., Erera, A. L. and White, C. C. III (2002). "Efficient Container Security Operations at Transshipment Seaports." Submitted to Presentation and Publication at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board and consideration for publication in Transportation Record Record.
• Luedtke, J. and White, C. C. III (2002). "HAZMAT Transportation and Security: Survey & Directions for Future Research." Working Paper, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology.
• Lewis B. M., Erera, A. L. and White, C. C. III (2002). "Efficient Container Security Operations at Transshipment Seaports." Presentation at the Inaugural Annual Intelligent Transportation Society (Singapore) Symposium, 5-6 September 2002, Singapore.