In an effort to counter potential terrorists, increasingly sophisticated pirates and smugglers, Zoca Container Security BV is gearing up for the commercial release of a new marine shipping container security system that incorporates the Iridium mobile satellite constellation. The satellite technology is a key feature that Zoca believes will set its solution apart from other available remote monitoring solutions.

The Zoca system “allows us to remotely monitor the opening and closing of containers in an authorized manner,” Jaap van den Hoek, director of Zoca Container Security, told Satellite News. “As soon as there is something wrong, the action will be canceled so the container cannot be opened. We can take appropriate action, whatever that action is, based own what we agree to do with our customers.”

The system consists of a mechanical lock operated with a Zoca handheld device. To lock or unlock the shipping container, the handheld equipment must be plugged into a connection on the outside of the container. The unit sends a security code for the lock through the Iridium constellation to a central computer at Zoca’s global processing center. The central computer confirms the correct security code, verifies the location of the container through GPS to ensure it is in the proper location to be locked/unlocked and returns the proper authorization to operate the container’s lock.

“We did an assessment of satellite networks” when we began developing the system two years ago, van den Hoek said. “Iridium was the only one with true global coverage at that point. The pricing had a good ratio of quality and services. The lack of latency also was an important factor for us. When we do any activity like opening and closing a container, there are three messages going back and forth. In total, it does not take more than two minutes, depending on weather conditions.”

Zoca hopes the use of Iridium for this remote monitoring application will give it an edge in both coverage and cost compared to other solutions in the marketplace.

“I believe [this system] gives us something unique in the market,” van den Hoek said. Our competitors “are based on shortwave radio or RFID (radio frequency identification) and they all have a drawback in that you need a lot of additional infrastructure and software. With our solution, you don’t need any additional infrastructure on site. You just need a mobile device and a container that is fitted with our lock. That makes the difference because the investment for distribution centers or terminals in this additional infrastructure” can be significant.

–Gregory Twachtman

(Jaap van den Hoek, Zoca, +31 320 232 471)