Working like a dog: lithium detection in air cargo

Cargo traveling in the bellyhold of a passenger plane or internationally may be screened by K9 units by yearend. [caption id="attachment_57135843" align="alignright" width="300"] A technical detection dog inspects a pallet of export cargo for any concealed lithium batteries, before loading onto a Qatar Airways flight. (Photo/Hactl)[/caption] The delay in implementation over the past couple of years has been due to a lack of available, trained K9 teams. However, that shortage is beginning to clear, making widescale adoption possible, according to Jeffery Koehl , vice president of customer experience at Global K9 Protection Group (GK9PG), a canine cargo screening company based in Opelika, Ala. Since at least 2021, when new International Civil Aviation Organization security standards led to a push for increased K9 screening within the industry, carriers, forwarders and airports have been working to integrate specially trained K9 units into the cargo screening process. GK9PG trains K9 units to help meet TSA -determined cargo screening standards put into place in 2022. Industrywide concern regarding lithium-ion batteries in air cargo shipments has escalated demand for K9 units trained to detect these dangerous goods. GK9PG had about 400 active K9 teams searching cargo in the United States as of June. The company’s lithium battery training program has been certifying dog-and-handler units since 2019. AI and K9 The company is now working to roll out its Global View digital platform to eliminate the paperwork for implementing K9 screening. The platform, in use since 2018 to monitor TSA compliance, is being refitted to give customers access to AI-powered document-digitization tools, as well as organizational tools for air waybills and screening logs, all without latency, Koehl said. K9 units, which are already screening 100% of eligible U.S. bellyhold cargo, began sniffing out lithium-ion batteries at Lyon-Saint-Exupery Airport (LYS) last year for a six-month study. Global K9 detection In April, Qatar Airways Cargo and Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd . (HACTL) partnered to add K9 screening to Qatar’s ex-Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) flights. The dogs, provided by MSA Security as part of the partnership, are specially trained to detect lithium-ion batteries in air cargo, according to a release. “In proving trials at HACTL, an MSA dog successfully detected packages containing batteries in PCs, and even a single power bank located on pallets containing other general cargo,” the release stated. Qatar Airways Cargo and HACTL are the first carrier and cargo handler in Hong Kong to utilize K9 units for lithium-ion battery detection. Plans for HACTL to roll out K9 services for other carriers with “another major [K9] operator” are in the works, according to the release. Meanwhile, DB Schenker in August announced the implementation of K9 units at its London Heathrow Airport (LHR) facility. The dogs, selected primarily for their ability to detect explosives, receive up to a year of specialized training before they join the DB Schenker team, according to a release from the company. Dogs have the advantage of being able to “scan” shipments too large for a traditional X-ray machine. A new TSA regulation going into effect Nov. 1 will require all air cargo, including impracticable-to-screen cargo , originating in the United States and heading to another country to be screened before being loaded onto aircraft. “The speed and accuracy of the screening they undertake has become an essential part of our operation and they give us a reliable method of detecting certain items which would otherwise prove difficult using other approaches,” Ian Dallow , DB Schenker’s U.K. aviation security manager, said in the release.

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