CargoTrax of Vantaa, Finland, which plans to release its latest satellite-based container tracking technology later this year, says recent trials in the South China Sea had a high success rate.

The product, SECURED by CargoTrax, reportedly combines military-grade precision with existing standards-based technology, in an effort to guarantee the accuracy required by shippers and government security services. CargoTrax is specifically targeting the refrigerated cargo market, and says that the technology should add less than 2 percent to the cost of container rental, when the insurance premium discounts are taken into consideration.

SECURED by CargoTrax, developed jointly by CargoTrax Oy of Finland and TriaGnoSys GmbH of Germany, is based on GSM, GPRS and GPS technology. It allows 24/7 global real-time security monitoring of containers and-of particular importance to refrigerated containers-monitoring of critical conditions that ensure the integrity of containerized cargo that can be worth up to $10m per container.

The system monitors the status of the container's cargo and the security of the container using an RFID container door e-seal. This transmits a "heartbeat" pulse in regular intervals via satellite to control centers on the ship and on the ground, which can include the shipping company's headquarters, the ship's home port operator, or government security services. If the seal is compromised in any way, an alarm is transmitted immediately, as is information about changes in temperature, humidity, vibration, light, and volumetric pressure, as well as levels of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

Visit www.cargotrax.net.