Port Operations and Economic Conditions Simulators

One focus area for NISAC is the importance of international trade and maritime infrastructure to our nation’s economic health.

DIISA has developed a Port Operations Simulator to evaluate the potential short-term effects of shipping container and port security policies on port operations. A companion Economic Simulator looks at the long-term effects of increased security costs on the economic health of a port.  The simulators provide an opportunity to uncover potential problems in port-related national security and international trade policies before implementation and to begin to discover viable solutions before problems occur.

The Port Operations Simulator analyzes the flow of shipping containers (import and export) through a container terminal at a port, examining the impact of additional security measures on the flow of goods through the port (e.g., increased inspections, scanners at various locations, or new security policies). It also examines the effect of failure of port-related infrastructures (e.g., electrical power, telecommunications).

The Port Operations and Economic Simulators originally were tailored to two ports in the Pacific Northwest – Portland and Seattle – to test the utility of the simulators in evaluating the potential consequences of security policies.  More recently, the short term simulator has been modified for the Barbours Cut container facility in the Port of Houston.

The Barbours Cut Port Operations model provides users with the added ability to run five pre-defined disruption scenarios (loss of electric power, breakdown in telecommunications, port security threat/shutdown, labor disruption, and a MARSEC Level III alert) to evaluate port response to the disruption under user selected conditions. As the predefined disruption model runs, users can manipulate various controls to determine how best to respond and recover from the disruption.  This enables better understanding and forward planning among private sector and government entities concerning port operations and events or policies that can affect this valuable infrastructure and the rest of the nation.

The NISAC simulators can be modified to apply to other ports.
NISAC seeks collaboration with infrastructure sector experts at the national, regional, and local levels for data and information about infrastructure processes and operations. This collaboration helps NISAC provide accurate and complete information to decision makers.

In developing these simulators, NISAC analysts worked with numerous individuals to design and parameterize the port models, including the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, the Regional Maritime Security Coalition, the US Coast Guard, Bonneville Power, the Ports of Seattle and Portland, the Port of Houston, the University of Washington, Lucent Technologies, Transportation Strategies International and Creative Learning Environments.  Their advice and feedback has greatly enhanced the realism and effectiveness of the Port Operations and Economics Simulators.