Stowaway searcher
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rr A black box satellite communications system has been launched to crack down on stowaway illegal immigrants.
Bedford-based Aeromark's e-SINC system is said to have been developed in response to pleas from the haulage industry. It uses infra-red sensors in the trailer to alert a monitoring station. The monitoring station can then contact the driver via CPS technology and direct him to a site where the authorities will be waiting for him.
The system costs 115 a week for a typical package, which includes other features such as tracking and changes of delivery schedules. It is said to be the first system that does not place the driver at risk. Aeromark general manager Andrew Goodwin explains: 'The driver doesn't need to climb into the trailer to disgorge these people, who often carry knives—it ensures third parties deal with them. And, because the driver has no control over the system, there is no chance of him being bribed.'
Goodwin adds that the system has the potential to save the lives of immigrants and the livelihoods of hauliers.
Locations where the trailer is expected to be opened and entered, such as the loading point, port check at Dover. port check at Calais and the unloading point, can be programmed into the system so that the alarm is not activated.
• Trials of a hand-held radar device carried out by the Immigration Service at Portsmouth were abandoned last weak after just one day. A Home Office spokesman says: "It was the second opportunity for the company [which has not been named] to demonstrate its product, but the device didn't work to our satisfaction? Other products are ekpected to be tested soon.