Good Fences Trends driving perimeter Security Growth
The EU to Allocate €270 million to Member States for Customs Control Equipment Over the Next Three Years
The first call for proposals was launched in October 2021, resulting in a total funding of more than €270 million for over 240 strategic Border Crossing Points and customs laboratories across the EU. This will allow Member States to purchase, maintain or upgrade state-of-the-art customs equipment such as new scanners, radiation monitors, teams of sniffer…
Explosion at Jordan’s Aqaba Port Kills 13, Injures Many
A gas leak at Jordan’s port of Aqaba killed 13 and injured more than 260 others, according to a state media report. A crane malfunctioned while moving a storage container filled with chlorine gas, the state reported. CCTV footage captured the event and showed the container being hoisted into the air and then slipping off…
Chargebacks911 Takes to the Skies With AirlinePros in a New Partnership to Tackle Fraud
Chargebacks911, the leading dispute technology specialists, today announces its new partnership with AirlinePros, a representation and distribution firm for airlines and travel suppliers, to defeat fraud and friendly fraud for travel industry merchants. Like other major online merchants, travel industry partners including airlines, hotels, and online travel agencies, took a big hit from chargebacks filed…
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship Traverses Atlantic
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) completed an historic transatlantic voyage from Plymouth, UK to its North American arrival in Halifax, Nova Scotia on June 5. The ship had no human captain or crew onboard and is the first self-directed autonomous ship to traverse the Atlantic Ocean. Marine research non-profit ProMare along with IBM designed and…
President Biden Adds $234.3 Million to Beef Up America’s Port Infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced that up to $684.3 million is now available for Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants, to be awarded on a competitive basis to projects that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of goods into, out of, around, or within a port. This marks…
IMO Secretary-General Urges Support for FSO Safer Plan
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim has urged further financial support for a UN-coordinated operational plan to address the threat of a major oil spill from the FSO Safer, moored off Yemen, after a pledging event in The Hague saw donors pledging $33 million in new funding. “In the face of an impending environmental…
USMMA Superintendent to Retire
Superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Vice Adm. Jack Buono will retire after a maritime career that has spanned more than 45 years. Vice Adm. Buono, a 1978 Kings Point graduate, has spent the past three and a half years at the Academy helm, and will relinquish command at a ceremony in June. His…
Single Window for Ship Data Exchange to Become Mandatory
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Facilitation Committee has adopted amendments to the Facilitation (FAL) Convention which will make the single window for data exchange mandatory in ports around the world, marking what it is calling “a significant step in the acceleration of digitalization in shipping.” Other amendments adopted include lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic…
Woolpert Contracted to Acquire Topographic, Bathymetric Lidar Data, Imagery for Tonga
The Pacific Community (SPC) has contracted with Woolpert to acquire topographic and bathymetric lidar data and aerial imagery that can be used to develop digital elevation models for the Kingdom of Tonga. The information and derived products will support nautical charting for navigation safety, infrastructure planning and rehabilitation, and disaster resilience and recovery. This project…
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Rear Admiral (Ret.) Ann Phillips as 20th Administrator of the Maritime Administration
Rear Admiral (Rear Adm.) Ann Phillips, USN, Ret., has been confirmed and sworn in as the 20th Administrator of the Maritime Administration (MARAD). Nominated by President Biden on October 21, 2021, Rear Adm. Phillips was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 10, 2022. She is the first woman to lead MARAD as administrator. “From…
Good Fences Trends driving perimeter Security Growth
$125 billion: That’s the approximate 2022 value of the global perimeter security industry, according to the market research firm Valuates (www.valuates.com). In its new report entitled on perimeter security market trends, the company is predicting this industry to experience a compound annual growth rate of 6.9% from now to 2028 – reaching an estimated value…
Travel In and Around Afghanistan
Philip Watkins mastered in Terrorism and Security studies at the University of Salford and studied Political Violence at the University of Saint Andrews. He is the current head of the Eigenrac Intelligence Management Service (IMS) line and operates in the lead analyst role for Afghan affairs where he is recognized as a subject matter expert…