In 2002, the NSW Police Marine Area Command uncovered a series of
organised criminal rackets operating successfully and, for a considerable
time, undetected within the marine industry. Due to the transportability
and lack of permanent identifiers on water craft, thieves can easily steal
a vessel and its equipment and either sell it as a whole or strip it down
in “chop-shop” fashion for parts resale. The 2003 National Maritime Crime
Forum estimated the annual cost of this crime to the community to be $15
million.
While any Australian boat manufacturers now comply with ISO standards for a
Hull Identification Number (HIN), professional thieves are adept
at removing or changing these inscriptions, just as they are with removing
serial number labels and alarm systems. Tracking systems are also
problematic as they only work within a limited range and rely on the owner
activation.
The Solution
DataDot Technology Ltd (DDT) delivers a community-responsible theft
deterrent system that has won official regulatory support in several
jurisdictions.
specifically targets professional thieves. Between 1,500 and 4,000
are applied per vessel, each laser-etched with a unique Hull Identification Number (HIN) or a Personal
Identification Number (PIN).
is impervious to salt water and applied to key components and areas of
water craft and accessories.
can be applied by individual boat owners or by the manufacturer. A simple,
effective Do-It-Yourself procedure has been developed for individual boat
owners to brush on the
.
This allows customers to DataDot their own assets in their own time with
ease. On the manufacturing end, DDT has developed a specialized spray
process. This process covers the hull, inboard/outboard engine and any
other expensive parts with
,
in less than three minutes.
With such saturation and extensive coverage,
is impossible to remove cost effectively. Moreover the size of the
makes it impossible for a thief ever to be confident they have removed
every single one. And if there is just one tiny
left, the police will know it is stolen. Furthermore if a whole brand is
using the
system,
any attempt to remove the dots from that brand’s boats or engines will
immediately raise alarms.
complements State Registration
requirements such
as the Boat Code System which records the identification and ownership
details of vessels (as legislated in NSW, WA and SA).
Therefore to a professional thief, a boat with the
system
is far more dangerous than a boat without the system. So what can a thief
do? The only solution is to stop stealing water craft that have the
system.
The Results
In 2002, the NSW Water Police uncovered $200,000
worth of stolen jetskis and 30 charges were laid. The bust was part of
Operation Tindari, and it opened a Pandora’s box of maritime crime. It
exposed a well organised theft and rebirthing racket, targeting valuable accessories
and expensive boats around NSW, and transporting them interstate.
Maritime crime was thriving nationally.
Some of the most significant evidence found in Operation Tindari was in
the form of
. One jetski
was found that on first appearances did not register as stolen. It had a valid hull Boatcode number
plate. However one
was also found
on the craft that revealed its true identity. The jetski has clearly been
rebirthed.
“A serious attempt was made to remove the
from the
craft,” NSW Marine Crime Manager Glenn Finniss said. “And this attempt
failed because of the single microdot being left.” As a result of the
incident, Detective Finniss was convinced of the benefits of the
system. He
referred to it as “the most promising of all potential marking systems”.
Operation Tindari geared the marine industry and law enforcement agencies
into action. Magnification scopes and UV lamps were circulated to all NSW
Water Police stations so they could effectively read
. The NSW
Police Marine Area Command started Operation Tingchow, targeting the theft
of vessels valued at more than $10,000. They recovered over $500,000 worth
of vessels. Later that year, the NSW Water Police also decided to
their own
fleet of new vessels. By the end of the year, the first National Maritime
Crime Forum was organised, and produced the country’s first Vessel Theft
Reduction Task Force.
In the following few years, support rapidly grew for
. It is now
endorsed by several organizations in our Australian test market ,
including the Australian Marine Industries Federation, the Outboard
Distributors Association Australia, the NSW Maritime Authority, NSW Water
Police and Queensland Water Police. Marine manufacturers including Southwind Marine Products, Tohatsu
Outboards, Cox Craft, Riviera, SeaDoo, Steben, Allison Boats, Southern
Star, Mercury Marine, Seafarer, Haines Signature & Traveller, Mustang
Pleasure Boats, Noble SuperVee, Sailfish, SunRunner and Haines Hunter use
the system.
In addition, Australia’s largest marine insurer, Club Marine, now waiver
the $1000 theft excess for boats protected by
while SPT PWC Insurance offers policy holders with craft protected by
DataDot a 10% premium discount and a reduced theft excess.
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