Israeli technology – major coastal defense element in a Spanish port
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Securing seaports and defending them has unfolded as a key priority in recent years. The threat posed by terrorist organization sets its eyes on coastal facilities and ports as veritable “underbellies”.
Securing the large area ports often occupy is a tall order. Recent years have seen Israeli technology play a prominent role in meeting the requirements this entails.
Magal Security Systems is a major player in this sector, thanks to unique proprietary technology it had developed for perimeter defense of sensitive facilities of all kinds.
It was recently announced that Phase 2 of the Tarragona Port Upgrade project in Spain, designed to have the port ISPS-ready, will be performed by Magal Spain. This is a fully owned Magal S3 subsidiary. The project is estimated at $2.1 million.
The challenge Magal has faced head on was far from simple. “ISPS standard code is far from detailed,” says Hagai Katz, Senior V.P, Marketing & Business Development. “This code does not specify what systems to apply. Nevertheless, it does set the security policy in the framework of which one has to exercise one’s own judgment in order to receive the UN’s international Maritime Organization (IMO).
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As it often happens elsewhere, the security systems at Tarragona Port have been set up piecemeal over the years, so they are not coordinated. Katz explains: “A smart fence, control gates, public announcement system, Infrared detectors, and video cameras – these various systems did not interface with one another at all. This has two primary ramifications: first, managerial sources and manpower are wasted, tasked as they are with establishing manual integration between systems. Secondly, you cannot receive the big picture from all the systems together, and you cannot have data layers per various attributes.”
During the first phase, Magal S3 integrated a PSIM system which GIS-linked all the local systems. PSIM enables grouping various fragments of each system into one picture, based on a geographical criterion, or on another feature.
The second phase consisted on installing detectors in the aesthetic perimeter fence, linking up existing cameras and adding 150 new ones. “In the course of the second phase, we installed long range thermal cameras, which reach far into the sea,” add Katz. “The VMD systems we integrated into these cameras help screen the irrelevant background movements this area has in abundance.”
The project is valued at $2.1 million.
Written by: Ziv Ithzaki
