From Unmanned Vehicles to Sea Lions:
Tools for Harbour Security on Display at NURC
26 October 2009 -- Members from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly recently gathered at NURC to learn about the latest approaches to securing our ports and harbours. The assembly is comprised of parliamentary members from the NATO nations as well as members from 14 associate countries. Their goal is to develop a mutual understanding among the NATO nation parliaments on major security issues. Among the security issues facing NATO countries today is port and harbour security.
Ports and harbours are the hubs of the world’s sea-going transportation system, which includes a fleet of 35,000 container ships, bulk carriers, oil and gas tankers, and general cargo vessels. The global economy relies on the safety of this growing fleet, and ports and harbours are vulnerable links that must be protected from disruptions. Ports, particularly civilian ports, are difficult to protect. The fact that attacks could come from a variety of small, hard-to-detect sources—from surface ships to SCUBA divers—also complicates the task. This complex environment makes it difficult to monitor the port for hostile intent and even more challenging to develop a response that is nonlethal in a civilian setting.
NURC, one of three NATO research centres, specializes in scientific research in the maritime and undersea environment. With a staff of scientists and technologists from the NATO nations and a fleet of state-of-the-art unmanned vehicles, research vessels, equipment and facilities, NURC offers a range of services from basic research and development to at-sea testing and validation. Since 2004, NURC has been advancing technologies for protection of ports and for maritime security. Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly got a close-up look at some of these new technologies, and they were also treated to a demonstration of an interesting approach used by the US Navy for port protection: sea lions trained to find objects and underwater intruders.
The latest technologies in port and harbour security include the use of unmanned vehicles for the detection, identification, and disabling of intruders or explosive devices above or below the surface. 
For this meeting, NURC’s fleet of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) were on display. UUVs range in size from 1-7 meters and are capable of carrying advanced sonar equipment, which can provide detailed images of the undersea environment. Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are also part of NURC’s fleet for harbour protection research and were shown in operation during the harbour security demonstration. Unmanned surface vehicles can be part of a detection and response system against underwater intruders. Surface vehicles are not stealthy, but there are advantages to having visible port security, and for certain types of interdiction, a surface vehicle is preferred. Unlike unmanned underwater vehicles, which are limited in the amount of data that can be transferred through the water, surface vehicles communicate easily through regular in-air communication channels.
All of the unmanned vehicles used at NURC rely on sophisticated sonar technology and data analysis, which has been the backbone of NURC’s scientific research for 50 years. 
Advancements in sonar are allowing better imaging in shallower waters, which is of particular value for harbour protection. NURC is now working on developing a coordinated fleet of autonomous vehicles and other traditional sonar equipment that could provide robust surveillance and intervention. This multidisciplinary research program involves advancements in sonar research, data analysis, underwater communication, and unmanned vehicles. It also involves the development of training tools and tactics to guide port security personnel in the deployment of a networked fleet of unmanned security vehicles. To address this need, NURC is developing another tool that was demonstrated at the meeting: the Open Sea Platform.
The Open Sea Platform is a virtual prototyping tool that lets NURC staff test complex maritime scenarios using recent advancements in artificial intelligence and gaming theory. Parliamentarians donned 3-D glasses to watch a virtual scenario where an unidentified intruder in a speed boat is treated with increasingly severe (non-lethal) measures the closer the speed boat gets to the harbour. The Open Sea offers a virtual environment where a mix of harbour protection systems can be tested and fine tuned. It also offers a training environment for NURC personnel and ultimately harbour security personnel to learn how to manage these new networked technologies.
The demonstrations also included a very different approach to underwater protection in ports. Under the Marine Mammal Program, the U.S. Navy is working with sea lions, who have extraordinary underwater vision and agility, to find undersea objects and assist in their recovery by tagging them and attaching a clamp connected to a cable. 
Four California sea lions had just finished a joint sea trial with NURC assets, to evaluate different systems for object detection at Elba Island, and traveled on to La Spezia to demonstrate their capabilities. During the demonstration for the Parliamentarians, a sonar-equipped, unmanned surface vehicle identified a scuba diver approaching one of the Centre’s ships. Once the target was identified, a sea lion was sent from a small boat into the water. The trainer gave the sea lion a large shackle, which he carried in his mouth. The shackle was connected to the boat by a tether, which was paid out as the sea lion dove. In about 30 seconds, the sea lion surfaced and reentered the boat. At that point, the personnel on the rubber boat reeled in the SCUBA diver who had the shackle around his leg. NURC also showed similar demonstrations to military and civilian organisations involved in the protection of ports and harbours.
From highly trained sea lions to unmanned vehicles to sophisticated prototyping software, NURC demonstrated a cross section of tools that are available to NATO nations in the effort to secure our ports and harbours. For information on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, visit http://www.nato-pa.int. For information on the U.S. Navy’s marine mammal program, visit http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals.