Maritime Exchange Provides New Port Security Tool

The Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay recently completed a major Maritime Domain Awareness electronic reporting program. Known as eNOA/D On-Line, the electronic Notice of Arrival/Departure system serves as a link between vessels destined for the U.S. and the Department of Homeland Security and provides vessel operators with a mechanism to comply with new Customs and Border Protection regulations which recently went into effect. In April, Customs published a rule that requires all air and ocean carriers to transmit detailed crew and passenger information electronically. In order to incorporate the new functionality into Maritime On-Line, the Exchange worked with local companies DBA Innovations, which developed the software, and InfoSystems, an MTM Technologies company, to upgrade the system infrastructure to support the new application. The New Orleans Board of Trade, a sister maritime association operating at Mississippi River ports, also partnered with the Exchange on the eNOA/D On-Line system. “This project presented numerous challenges,” Himber said, “not the least of which was the fact that final technical documentation wasn’t released by the Coast Guard until June 1 or that we had to design a computer program that could be used by ships at sea - a good number of which lack the most current computer equipment or software. But our team worked aggressively to make sure we met the June 6 compliance date.”