MOL, HONG KONG TERMINAL AND SHIPPERS START SECURITY PILOT

MOL, HONG KONG TERMINAL AND SHIPPERS START SECURITY PILOT    The Japanese shipping line MOL, the container terminal operator Hongkong International Terminals and local factories have started a four-week cargo security pilot from Hong Kong.
   The initiative, called Container Security Solution, was launched yesterday (Dec. 2), to coincide with the commencement of the U.S. Customs 24-hour advance cargo declaration requirement.
   Hutchison Port Holdings, the parent company of Hongkong International Terminals, said that a principal goal of the project is to maintain a level of security in the movement of cargo from door-to-door within marine containers.
   The initiative has two components. The first is through the provision of cargo and other required information to the security authorities such that investigations may be conducted as appropriate. The second is to provide a level of assurance that the physical integrity of the container has not been compromised as it passes from point to point through the chain of custody
once the cargo is packed into the container and the
container has been locked with an electronic seal.
   “The pilot began with the collection of required    information and the locking of some 10 containers with e-seals,” Hutchison reported. These containers will be shipped with MOL, moving from Hong Kong to the port of Seattle. The vessel was scheduled to sail for the U.S. West Coast yesterday (Dec. 2).
   The pilot involves a partnership of factories, government
representatives, logistics service providers, terminals and shipping lines.
   “Taking into account the high level of cooperation and coordination, this is the world’s first container security scheme of this magnitude,” a spokesman for Hutchison said.

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