Track description
Freely flowing international trade, carried predominantly by ocean-going vessels, has been a major contributor to the global prosperity experienced in the second-half of the 20th century. In the U.S. and many countries worldwide, maritime traffic in ports and waterways is a critical component of national supply chains and the backbone of many economies. However, the proximity of major seaports to urban centers and the volume and diversity of seaport activities render them vulnerable targets, where even small incidents could have crippling economic effects. Increasingly important security operations must strike a balance between providing security and impeding the movement of cargo with the attendant economic costs, as any stoppage or appreciable slow-down in port operations impacts numerous supply chains, and extended stoppages necessitate diverting vessels to other ports, as was the case in the 2003 strike of longshoremen in the port complex of LA/LB.

The need to maintain efficient port operation sometimes conflicts with worldwide concerns about terrorism, drug smuggling and crime and with the resulting port security measures. This track will explore a wide variety of topics at the interface of port security, safety and port operations, with an emphasis on technical tools using mathematical modeling, risk analysis, and new algorithmic approaches to inspection of cargo, nuclear materials, vehicles entering ports, vessel movements in waterways and port operations. Such models can assist in analyzing the effectiveness of interdiction measures and the disruptive impact of high-consequence events in and around port complexes, as well as assessing the effectiveness of strategies to mitigate and recover from such events. These models can further help in effectively setting up the “Rules of the Road” in ports and waterways.

The following areas are of interest to the Ports and Littoral Protection Track:

Port security and/or safety risk analysis
Port and waterway maritime traffic analysis and modeling
Cargo screening and inspection algorithms
Nuclear detection issues and algorithms
Analysis of container delays and costs due to cargo inspection
Cost and economic trade-off of port security
Allocation of port security funds
Effectiveness of CSI and C-TPAT cargo inspection and monitoring initiatives
Vessel scheduling and sequencing in waterways and canals
Analysis of vessel movements and delays in anchorages in ports
Modeling of vessel arrivals at ports and waterways
Accident probability modeling
Port security value tree modeling
Decision analysis and multi-objective trade-off models in port security analysis.

Key Dates

Submissions of Extended Abstracts :April 12, 2012
Notification of acceptance:May 12, 2012
Final Camera-Ready Submission:June 12, 2012
Early Registration:July 01, 2012

FIRST SUBMISSION
Extended abstracts (minimum 2 pages), full draft papers or other proposals should be submitted for the review process through the submission section by April 12, 2012.
The extended abstract or the full draft paper must contain title, authors, affiliations, addresses, main body and references.
Each extended abstract or full draft paper will be reviewed by at least two members of the International Program Committee taking into consideration scientific quality, originality and relevance. Only original papers, written in English will be accepted.
The extended abstract or the full draft paper should be prepared by following the final paper formatting. However any type of paper formatting can be accepted for the first submission.

NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE
Notification of acceptance will be sent by May 12, 2012.

CAMERA READY PAPER SUBMISSION
The International Program Committee will accept two types of camera ready papers: extended paper (10 pages, 2 columns); regular paper (6 pages, 2 columns) both for regular and special sessions.
The camera ready paper must adhere to the conference template. The .dot file contains the complete instructions for preparing a camera ready copy for the Proceedings. The final version of the paper must be a PDF file.
Your camera ready paper (extended paper or regular paper) in PDF format must be submitted by using the submission section before June 12, 2012.
The page limit for manuscripts is ten (10) pages (included in the author registration fee). Additional pages will require an additional fee.
If your work must be cleared or approved before publication by your institution, company, or governmental agency, please be sure that process will be completed by the due date above or we will not be able to include it in the CD Conference Proceedings.

CONTACT INFORMATION
For further information please contact Altiok Tayfur (altiok@rci.rutgers.edu) , Francesco Longo (f.longo@unical.it) or dhss@msc-les.org