The main aim of CONTAIN was to define and demonstrate a European Shipping Container Surveillance and Protection System. The system was structured within a general framework that envisaged recommendations for the standardization and the definition of protection policies, new business models and advanced management systems.

The CONTAIN project tested technologies to monitor and track containers, providing additional information about its location to determine those at high risk that should be thoroughly inspected and investigated.

The demonstration in Valencia focused on the inspection of empty containers. Currently, a random physical inspection is carried out of empty containers leaving the port to ensure that there are not suspicious contents in the supposedly “empty” containers.

Many times, the conditions under which inspections are carried out are problematic due to poor lighting inside the container. Furthermore, this type of inspection makes it almost impossible to detect the potential existence of false bottoms. Also, physical inspections are costly, in both time and resources. This becomes particularly problematic at departure rush hour with high levels of congestion on port exit roads.

For this reason, the demonstration in Valencia within the framework of the CONTAIN project set up the following activities:

• A risk analysis based on information from the “port community system”, the CONTAIN platform and the CONTRAFFIC system.
• A scanner prototype to automatically inspect empty containers.
• A statistical recording of the results obtained.

Should the scanner show evidence of a foreign object or changes in its internal dimensions, port police authorities are notified so that they can escort it to the inspection area.