SAVANNAH, Ga. --- At the Port of Savannah, shipping containers from China arrive attached with small plastic boxes that track the cargo inside -- and send a radio-signaled alarm to remote computers if someone tries to break in.
Port officials say these electronic tags could prove a boon to the shipping industry by slashing the cost of managing inventories and adding a layer of security to seaports concerned with becoming targets of terrorist attacks.
The Savannah port has teamed up with the world's second-largest seaport in Shanghai, China, to test the tagging technology on all cargo shipped between them.
"It's a huge benefit," said Curtis Foltz, the chief operating officer of the Georgia Ports Authority. "From the beginning of shipping to the end, if a container is compromised at any point there will be an immediate alert."
Savannah and Shanghai aren't the only ports using tags for radio frequency identification. In Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., ports require them to keep tabs on trucks entering their terminals. China began testing the tags on domestic cargo shipments in 2005.
When they're attached to containers awaiting shipping, the tags are programmed with the type of cargo being shipped, its weight, the name of the ship transporting it and the destination. The tags will also sense if a container is opened or if its seal is broken in transit, and will broadcast an alert marking the time of the intrusion.
Savi Networks, a California-based company, has developed a similar system used by ports in countries such as South Korea, Britain and Colombia.
The tagging system still needs improvement before the ports are ready to market it to customers. Right now, the tags -- and any alarms tripped by intruders -- can only be read by monitors at the seaports where their trips start and end, not during the overseas trek.
Port officials say they plan to improve the electronic tags to relay alarms in real time while at sea.
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