IMSecure

"Protecting the Goods: Increasing thefts show the need for better shipping container security."

Torry Shealy

November, 2008

Recent times have seen a rise in the amount of thefts of or from shipping containers. Many of these thefts are targeted, planned, and executed with efficiency. Many of these thefts have been organized sophisticated crime syndicates but sometimes the crimes are perpetrated by just a few enterprising crooks. In the US, the FBI estimates that $30 billion a year in goods are lost due to cargo theft.[1]

Just this month, around 300 pairs of jeans were stolen from a shipping container at the VF Jeansware company parking lot in Greenville, SC.[2] Sometimes the thieves take the whole shipping container. In early October, three shipping containers full of women's clothing were stolen from a Sayreville, NJ warehouse.[3] And even a whole trailer load of coffee creamer was stolen in West City, Illinois, this month.[4]

The thieves are even going after drugs. There have been major cargo thefts of pharmaceutical drugs, with $14 million in Lipitor and Viagra stolen, as well as $25 million in Novartis heisted in 2005 alone.[5] It makes one think of what other drugs have been targeted for theft.

This YouTube video From Tropical Shipping shows the ease in which criminals can infiltrate a shipping container.

This problem appears to be worldwide. From Somali pirates targeting container ships to Mexican thieves busting into containers headed to the US on rail lines. This is even an important issue for the militaries that are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the last year, the British military has reported 16 cases of theft of military equipment and supplies while in transit in Afghanistan.[6] And in Britain itself, truck hijackings have risen 50% in the past year, with $655 million in lost goods.[7]

A new report by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, compiling 3 years of data, found that electronics, food and clothing to be the most stolen items. Locations where cargo theft occurred were truck stops and rest areas but also modal yards, drop lots, as well as motel and restaurant parking lots. Among the Chubb Group's recommendations was to take advantage of security technology. The report stated that container tracking, vehicle immobilization and advanced security seals are now available at lower cost.[8]

One of the problems up to date is there has been too much reliance on inferior locking mechanisms and RFID tags and devices for tracking. RFID is not the answer to finding a widespread tracking system and almost all the locking mechanisms on the market are easily defeatable. The best solution is to couple these two approaches to security. The best way to do this is to combine a truly global tracking system with a very difficult to defeat locking mechanism. The longer the device takes to defeat, the less inclined a thief is to attempt to break into a container.