Using Fuzzy Logic Algorithms and Growing Hierarchical Self-Organizing Maps to Define Efficient Security Inspection Strategies in a Container Terminal

Abstract

Maritime transport is one of the oldest methods of moving various types of goods, and it continues to have an important role in our modern society. More than 20 million containers are transported across the oceans daily. However, this form of transportation is constantly threatened by illegal operations, such as the smuggling of goods or people and merchandise theft. Port security departments must be prepared to face the different threats and challenges that accompany the use of innovative techniques and devices to achieve efficient inspection strategies. Two inspection strategies are presented in this study. The first strategy is based on fuzzy logic (FL), and the second strategy is based on the growing hierarchical self-organizing map (GHSOM) approach. The weight variation and security index (SI) of a container and the readings from certain technologies, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and X-ray scanning, are considered as the input data. To minimize the inspection time and considering the costs associated with the security inspections of containers, the results of both inspection strategies are compared and analyzed. The findings indicate there is potential for improving the effectiveness of security inspections by employing both techniques, and the specific relevance in the case of GHSOMs is discussed.