March 23, 2016 – ME Newsline
ABU DHABI [MENL] — The Gulf Cooperation Council has been briefed on Western equipment meant to bolster maritime and port security.
A U.S. company has been marketing a platform meant to protect ports of the six GCC countries. HALO Maritime Defense Systems introduced Guardian Marine Gate, developed since 2014 with the U.S. Navy and meant to stop insurgency strikes.
“Applications for the new technology include ports and harbors, oil and gas assets, nuclear power plants and other sensitive waterside infrastructure,” HALO said.
In a statement on March 20, HALO said it would introduce Guardian at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference. DIMDEX, which began in 2008, was scheduled to take place in Qatar on March 29-31.
Industry sources said the GCC was focusing on maritime and homeland security systems amid the threat by Iran and Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. They said such GCC states as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates wanted to protect their offshore energy sectors.
HALO said its security barrier systems were designed to protect ports, naval bases and energy facilities. The company said the security barrier used water as a means of stopping attacks.
“Boasting a 15-year design life, the HALO barrier is the only barrier in the world to have been validated in independent, fully instrumented crash testing by the U.S. Navy,” HALO said.
