For us that is. Not for Jim, Gary, and David et al (sorry, let's not forget John Wyatt Twerp of SDS, General Pierre Hadji Georgiou of ProSec in Lebanon - responsible as the conduit for sales of the ade 651 to Iraq, and almost certainly for playing around with the funny money side of this despicable trade in lies).
Anyhow, thanks to the work of Bob Couttie at Maritime Accident Casebook, the word is spreading in the the World of shipping as well.
Here I reproduce an article from Shiptalk (note that they credit Bob with having brought them the story...
For all the wonderful pieces of kit rolled out by respected companies, there is also a dubious trade in fakes and false hopes.
Shiptalk’s dear friend, Bob Couttie at the Maritime Accident Casebook http://www.maritimeaccident.org/ has once again chanced on a problem area that should be of a major concern to those buying and using security equipment onboard.
It appears that a dodgy “bomb detector” is now being marketed for ship and port security, despite several exposes of their ineffectiveness. Bob explains, that the instruments vary by name and outward appearance but share common characteristics:
A telescopic 'radio aerial' arranged to swing freely in a handle, the direction in which the aerial swings allegedly indicates the presence of a target substance. Sometimes a number of target-substance specific cards are supplied with the device to be inserted in the handle to 'tune' it. These cards often contain paper and cardboard or, in the more sophisticated variety, an RFID chip, neither of which can store the information required.
Promotional materials will typically claim a very long list of substances which can be detected, claim that the device works through any obstructive materials such as steel and concrete and claim that the devices will detect target substances at long distance, from hundred of metres to a kilometre or more.
Security equipment – whether to satisfy ISPS or to fight pirates, is increasingly becoming a vital part of the security regime – to invest in kit which doesn’t help and which can place crews and ships in danger is a dangerous game – make sure you do your homework before completing the purchase order...
The more coverage the story gets, the less hiding places for the fraudsters and their cohorts, as well as the corrupt buyers (see here more good news on my next post).
Keep up the good work Bob!! And everyone else campaigning to get this whole damn mess sorted and shut down. Let's compare him with say John Wyatt Twerp of SDS, responsible for promoting the HEDD1 (Hasn't Even Detected DooDoo Once)- formerly also known as the Sniffex Plus) in the UK. UMMMM, where to start. Well Wyatt Twerp, Jim McCormick, Gary Bolton, David Vollmar and all the other pieces of SH1t involved, are nasty, stupid, and useless bits of human detritus. Bob, on the other hand is a man of principle, honour and integrity. Quite a contrast.
