Industry Vertical
Meeting the TWIC Mandate
Louisiana’s Port Fourchon makes security an important dialog
- By Kim Rahfaldt
- Aug 01, 2016
The Greater Lafourche Port
Commission, located on the Gulf
Coast in Louisiana, facilitates the economic
growth of the communities in
which it operates by maximizing the flow
of trade and commerce. Because of its
ideal geographic location in the Gulf of Mexico, Port
Fourchon’s primary service market is domestic deepwater
oil and gas exploration, drilling, and production
of the Gulf of Mexico. Port Fourchon’s tenant
companies provide supplies and equipment to more
than 90 percent of all deep-water activity in the entire
U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
After applying for and receiving a grant, Port
Fourchon enlisted the help of Transportation Technology
Associates, a technology design, engineering
and consulting firm, to assist with the upgrade of
its existing AMAG Technology, Symmetry Security
System to the Symmetry Homeland Security Edition
(HSE) software with Morpho biometric readers.
Symmetry Homeland provides powerful integrated
access control and security solutions for users,
meeting federal standards such as TWIC. Symmetry
Homeland secures the Port Commission’s Operations
Center in Port Fourchon, LA, which houses the harbor
police and its administration building located in
Galliano, LA, 25 miles inland. The software primarily
secures perimeter doors and the communications
rooms within each building.
Port Fourchon users needing access to secure facilities
must carry a Transportation Worker Identification
Credential (TWIC) to adhere to the Transportation
Security Administration and U.S. Coast
Guard security program. All people needing unescorted
access to secure areas of port facilities, outer
continental shelf facilities and vessels regulated under
the Maritime Transportation Security Act must carry
a TWIC. The TWIC program provides a tamperresistant
biometric credential to maritime workers.
Port Fourchon employees use the TWIC card as an
ID badge to obtain access to secure areas of the port,
including the communications rooms and other areas
with critical infrastructure. Morpho biometric readers
are mounted on all these access doors.
“It’s a requirement that every port employee have a
TWIC to get into the facilities and the communications
rooms,” said April Danos, Port Fourchon’s IT director.
“Employees who do not carry a TWIC use a different
card and only have access to perimeter doors.”
Symmetry integrates with HID Global’s piv-
CLASS Validation Engine, pivCLASS Registration
Client, pivCLASS PACS Service and pivCLASS Certificate
Manager software, and performs a four-factor
authentication that includes viewing the photo of the
cardholder, matching a PIN, matching a biometric
fingerprint and checking the card’s digital certificates
against the Cancelled Card List. The list is continuously
updated and that information is shared with the
Symmetry System for maximum security.
“It’s the port’s responsibility to facilitate access to the Gulf of Mexico for the supply vessels
and service providers who keep the
oil rigs and platforms up and running
to produce approximately 20 percent of
the Nation’s oil supply,” said Jeff Brown,
Transportation Technology Associates
managing partner. “Conducting a risk
assessment and implementing a thorough
TWIC program with AMAG’s
Symmetry Homeland software assures
the port commission that they are doing
everything in their power to keep their
employees and port tenants safe. Our
design and construction management
ensured that Port Fourchon meets the
rigorous TWIC standards.”
The Harbor Police are the primary
users of the software, and in addition
to the highly-secured communications
rooms, which house the port’s main
data and infrastructure, they use Symmetry
to manage access on perimeter
doors, as well as unlock internal doors
for meetings and other events.
Threat Level Manager
Port Fourchon installed the threat level
manager module to work in accordance
with the Coast Guard’s Maritime Security
(MARSEC) Levels. With the
click of a mouse, the port commission
can change security levels for all of its
buildings.
“If the MARSEC level changes to
a two or three, access to our buildings
is more controlled, requiring a swipe
and biometric, for example, to gain access,”
Danos said. “If there is a threat
moving through the port, we can lock
down our buildings in an instant for
maximum security.”
Threat Level Manager provides a
fast way to change the port’s security
level, including locking it down in extreme
situations.
Tenants
Port Fourchon is a landlord port, and
its large, higher risk tenants are required
to comply with the TWIC mandate.
Smaller tenants, or tenants whose
products are deemed less risky, are not
required to use TWIC readers.
Master Plan for Growth
Phase Two of Port Fourchon’s master
security plan is to integrate Symmetry
with its Milestone video management
system, which will link video and access
control for better overall security.
Phase Three includes integrating
Symmetry into the port’s situational
awareness system.
“AMAG’s Symmetry Security Management
System is easy to use and integrate
with our other technologies on
site,” Danos said. “We look forward to
growing the system, integrating it with
our video system and continuing to
update and upgrade our security even
more at Port Fourchon.”
Transportation Technology Associates,
LLC provides vendor-neutral
design, engineering and consulting
services in the areas of telecommunications
systems, telecommunications
infrastructure and security systems to a
diverse set of clients in the government,
aviation, maritime, industrial, healthcare
and education markets.
This article originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of Security Today.