Project Abstract

Maritime security, including the underwater, is of paramount importance to assure the smooth and safe transportation of goods and people to/ from the EU  ports, as well as to preserve uninterrupted operations of critical coastal-based/ river-based/ maritime infrastructures. Ships and maritime infrastructures need to be protected against all illegal acts through a) continuous 24/7underwater security surveillance against potential intruders divers, hostile underwater  vehicles and illicit/ dangerous containers towed by ships, b) on-demand ships’ hulls scanning/ inspection, for the best possible detection/ recognition/  classification of strapped, attached, hidden or misplaced illicit (i.e. narcotics) and dangerous (i.e. CRNE) material, c) underwater inspections of ports’ entrances,  seabed and docking places foundation, for the best possible detection/ recognition/ classification of dangerous containers (i.e. CRNE packages, IEDs and/or dirty bombs) at these places, as well as to apply deterrent and response measures, in order to prevent or respond to illicit acts and avoid undesired  escalation of security incidents. To that end, the multinational and interdisciplinary UnderSec project team, consisting of experts in the maritime  security and underwater security domain, research/ academic institutions, technology providers, and End-Users from the Coast Guard, Borders Control, and Port Authorities sectors, will develop a modular, holistic approach integrated, interoperable and cyber-secure Prototype System, to enhance underwater security operations of ships, ports and maritime infrastructures. The UnderSec system will consist of multimodal (i.e. optical, EM, acoustic) sensors, fixed and/ or integrated onboard robotic assets (i.e. ASV, LAUV), assisted by multimodal AI, ML, DL and Digital Twins techniques, Risk Assessment and Crisis Classification SW services for ships’, ports’ and maritime infrastructures’ Underwater Security Situational Awareness, Common Operational Picture generation an distribution to all interested stakeholders, Decision-Making Support (to the users) SW service, with relevant Command/ Control/ Communication/ Response/ Reporting capabilities. Individual technologies will be tested, compared with each other and pre-evaluated in a controlled environment, while the modular components and the system as a whole will be tested and evaluated during real-life Pilot Use Case (PUC) demonstrations in real operational environments, resulting in the establishment of new knowledge, innovative and beyond the current State-of-the-Art solutions, advanced processes and the consequent regulatory framework upgrade suggestions.