Real-time Crisis Classification in the ISOLA System

Security threats across the oceans of the world and to the coastal areas continue to expose people and property at risk, while piracy and armed robbery are considered some of the most hazardous threats. Every year numerous violent attacks result in injuries, loss of lives and psychological traumas, as in many cases pirates proceed to hostage-taking and kidnapping of seafarers. Furthermore, security threats such as hijacking of vessels for ransom, cargo/property theft or damage arise disruptions of maritime transport and trade flows and have a significant financial impact in maritime trade. Hence, the development of new methods is needed to enhance the security of the vessels and to reduce the risk of a successful attack. ISOLA aims at enhancing the security of passenger ships through the development of an intelligent and automated security superintendence system. The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), as part of the ISOLA Consortium, is developing a smart tool that estimates the risk level, in real time, for potential security incidents and provides a real-time threat classification alert. The classification tool analyses the data gathered from the ship’s legacy systems and various sensors and modules installed on the ship as part of ISOLA. The core scientific principles of the tool are based on Bayesian probabilistic models. The tool is expected to effectively support the decision-making process in terms of the vigilance, surveillance, early threat detection and adequate situation evaluation, during this time-sensitive and extremely stressful circumstances and it is expected to minimize human error as well as the overall response time.