MARITIME SECURITY: Protecting Naval Vessels

The U.S. Navy protects its ships using what looks like a series of tennis nets sitting on cylindrical-shaped floats that fasten together to form a floating fence.

“The concept is simple, however, the science is complex,” says Tom Pruitt, director of sales for Harbor Offshore Barriers Inc. (HOBI). “The PSB (Port Security Barrier) flotation pontoons support a steel structure used for securing a vertical nylon or steel net. The net may be as high as 9 ft. above the surface of the water. The FSB (Fixed Security Barrier) system is comprised of a special purpose net that is secured to piling, platforms and/or a variety of marine structures. The FSB system can provide tremendous protection from the sea floor to any reasonable height above the surface deemed necessary by our client.”

steel structure used for securing a vertical nylon or steel net. The net may be as high as 9 ft. above the surface of the water. The FSB (Fixed Security Barrier) system is comprised of a special purpose net that is secured to piling, platforms and/or a variety of marine structures. The FSB system can provide tremendous protection from the sea floor to any reasonable height above the surface deemed necessary by our client.”

When the nylon or steel nets encounter an impact, such as a speeding boat, they stretch to absorb the energy of the impact. The steel nets are further supported by additional elements in the technology called “break rings” that absorb the energy as well. All impacts into the nylon or steel nets are transmitted to an anchoring system that secures the entire structure to the ocean floor.

The system is, in part, a response to the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in October 2000 while it was docked in Yemen. The attack accelerated the U.S. Navy barrier program and prompted the Navy to aggressively provide additional protection to its ships and other assets. In 2002, Harbor Offshore Inc. (HOI), Ventura, Calif., was awarded its first of many contracts by the Navy to provide a complete PSB system for the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Bangor, Wash. The system is in excess of 11,000 ft.

HOI was founded in 1997 as a commercial diving company and specializes in inspection, repair, removal and installation of marine structures, moorings, pipelines and cable systems. HOI has installed more than 60 percent of the PSB systems used to protect U.S. Navy assets in the United States and around the world.

In 2004, the company created HOBI to install maritime security barriers for the Navy. It was awarded an exclusive license for the barrier technology originally engineered by the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC) at Port Hueneme, Calif.

Barriers stop the action, but preserve the evidence

HOBI produces two types of barrier systems: the PSB system designed by NFESC and FSB system designed by HOI. The systems range from maximum security (the PSB 5500 system) to high-level security (the PSB 1300) to mid-level security (PSB 600), with the PSB 5500 able to stop more than 9 million lbs. of force and the PSB 600 exceeding 1 million foot-pounds of energy. For example, a 4-ton boat traveling at 60 knots (69 miles per hour) will generate slightly more than 1.2 million foot-pounds of energy. Much larger vessels going at a slower rate may generate the same amount of energy. The barrier systems are designed to stop a variety of commercial and recreational vessels.

“The design of the energy absorption elements and this technology reduces the loading to our anchoring system significantly. Safety factors of two to five times their rated capacity are normal and required as part of the design process for marine components and structures. The nets are the first line of defense and do a tremendous job of absorbing the majority of the energy,” Pruitt says.

“The primary purpose of the nets is to stop the boat,” he adds. “Our barriers are a visual deterrent; they don’t hide potential intruders, and they are designed for all environments. The barriers are even practical for the potential wayward boater in that they keep recreational boaters away from protected assets without destroying the boat or inflicting serious injury to the occupants.”

CCAT lends a hand

In June 2004, HOBI learned that the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT) was opening up a solicitation for proposals to consider funding opportunities and business services for small entrepreneurs and academic and government labs that specialize in military and security technologies.

The Department of Defense (DoD)-supported CCAT program awards product development funding and business commercialization services to small entrepreneurs and university/government labs to help them achieve commercialization success. It also awards business assistance such as market studies and investor relations expertise to help put technologies into the hands of the U.S. military and first responders.

In July 2004, CCAT awarded HOBI a market study. The market study helps a company determine how to seek out new markets with potential clients and to improve existing marketing strategy.

More than ships

Although naval vessels are a primary threat target, many security threats are not focused necessarily on ships in port. These include liquid natural gas facilities, bridges, water intakes for desalinization plants and naval facilities — all of which are attractive targets for potential terrorists. “The risk of loss from a successful terrorist attack on a major natural liquid gas or oil producing platform or refinery is enormous in terms of its economic and political value,” Pruitt says. “We’re talking about numbers in the many billions of dollars, and that risk is substantial in terms of both its possibility and its value.”

In addition to the U.S. Navy, other clients include the French defense contractor, DCN, who completed an installation in Brest, France around a nuclear submarine base in July 2007.