The Role of Modelling and Simulation in Ensuring Maritime Security
by Dr. Jan Stockbrügger, DLR-Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures
This track explores the role of modelling and simulation in ensuring maritime security. In a world where shipping, trade, and coastal regions operate around the clock, advanced models and simulation tools enable deeper understanding of threats, risks, and response options. The aim is to provide decision makers, scientists, and practitioners with a robust foundation to plan preventive measures, train for operations, and allocate resources efficiently.
Key topics include integrative modelling approaches that connect physical processes at sea with human and organizational factors. This includes maritime traffic simulations, risk analyses of accidents, collision avoidance, and environmental risks such as oil spills, but also attack scenarios against critical maritime infrastructures. By combining synthetic data, real observations, and uncertainty quantification, robust scenarios are created that realistically depict conflicts, incidents, and attacks. A focus is placed on multi-agent systems that replicate the behavior of ships, authorities, and emergency services in dynamic operational scenarios to test coordination, communication, and decision-making processes.
The track covers both theoretical foundations and practical applications. Subjects range from algorithms for emergent patterns and anomaly detection in ship traffic to tactical training simulations for coast guards, port authorities, and navies. Special attention is given to model validation, sensitivity analysis of parameters, and scalability from regional to global levels. Through case studies on counter-terrorism, smuggling, piracy, and environmental disasters, best practices are shared and open research questions identified.
Participants present research on simulations using current tools, data sources (such as AIS data, SAR imagery, weather and sea state data), and platforms that foster collaboration. The track encourages interdisciplinary discussion and offers space for new ideas on how simulations can make maritime security strategies more resilient, responsive, and efficient. Finally, future trends, ethical and legal considerations, and the need for standardized procedures are highlighted.
Topics can include but are not limited to:
* Simulation models for maritime situational awareness, risk analyses, and threat assessments
* Simulation models for civilian and military applications
* Infrastructure, technical and process models
* Traffic management and simulation models
* Constructive models to simulate complex maritime scenarios
* Agent-based und multi-agent models for maritime simulations
* Simulation tools and software for supporting maritime exercises
* Validation and verification of maritime simulation models
* Decision support through simulation and forecasting models
* Simulating human-technical processes
Safety and Security Related Applications for Muography
by Dr. Jean-Marco alameddine, DLR-Institute for the protection of maritim infrastructures
Muography refers to the use of naturally occurring or artificially generated muons as a non-invasive imaging technique. As an established technology, it is successfully applied in a wide range of safety and security contexts, including border control inspections, nuclear waste imaging, civil engineering, and geological studies.
This track invites contributions on novel developments in muon tomography within the maritime domain as well as the broader field of safety and security. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, method development and data analysis, detector optimization, innovative application concepts, and experimental or operational results.
In addition, we also encourage contributions addressing safety and security applications of particle-physics-based technologies in a wider sense. This includes, for example, particle physics approaches to PNT (Position, Navigation, and Timing), as well as methods exploiting secondary particles beyond muons.