Operation Safe Commerce containers arrive in Seattle

May 1, 2004
The Innovative Trade Network (ITN), a BV Solutions Group (BVSG)-led team of specialists from 10 companies, has announced the arrival of the first three

The Innovative Trade Network (ITN), a BV Solutions Group (BVSG)-led team of specialists from 10 companies, has announced the arrival of the first three Operation Safe Commerce (OSC) intermodal shipping containers at warehouse facilities in Seattle WA.

“The first three shipping containers left Germany on March 3, 2004, and have traveled a total of 11,500 miles by truck, ocean carrier, and rail in their journey to the United States,” said Lowell Thurman, BVSG senior project manager and vice-president. “These three shipping containers are the first of more than 100 containers that will be tracked from Europe and Asia by the ITN team.”

OSC's goal is to demonstrate the use of new and updated technologies, policies, and procedures to allow for development of more accurate risk profiles for intermodal shipping containers. The containers will be fitted with various sealing, tracking, and information-gathering technologies, and exposed to actual shipping conditions on two supply chains. They also will be monitored for logistics and security anomalies.

Shipping containers that were tracked contained food products or automobile parts. The ITN team performed detailed vulnerability assessments of existing supply chains and deployed technologies to mitigate potential shortfalls in security.