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). 

DataDot DNA 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.

DatDot 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.  

 Identification Technology
DDT technologies work by marking each asset they are applied to with a unique and individual code. This code is then recorded on a database and matched with other asset and ownership identifiers. In some cases the code is the primary manufacturer's identifier – for example a car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

Identification technology is not a new concept. For a long time cars have had  unique VINs, engines have had serial numbers, boats have had Hull Identification Numbers (HINs), designer clothing has had brand labels and so on. These identifying tags have developed for many different reasons.

Engines have serial numbers to discourage theft; designer clothes have brand labels to discourage counterfeit brands. However, professional thieves can easily defeat these identifying tags; engine serial numbers, VIN and HIN plates can be changed and fake brand labels can be manufactured. DDT technologies, on the other hand, takes identification to the next level.

Technology you can't duplicate
DDT technologies are different. They are virtually impossible to reproduce. Therefore, unlike the designer clothing labels, thieves can’t easily make fake copies. This attribute alone has benefits for many industries. Take the clothing industry for example. To prove clothes are of a particular brand, we insert into clothing labels. Counterfeiters are able to copy the clothes and the brand labels, but they can't readily reproduce the , so they cannot pass off their product as the real thing. In this way, DDT technologies help to protect fraud and provide quality assurance.

Virtually Irremovable
DDT technologies are virtually irremovable. Take for example our . It is conceivably possible to remove all of the , however it would be totally cost ineffective to do so. Moreover, just one tiny dot has to remain for the car to be identified as stolen. The risk of thieves getting caught with a protected item is significantly increased.

An Identity Revolution
These unique attributes of DDT technologies mean we create security and authentication for home, business and industry in a new and innovative way. Our four technologies – , , and – mean that everything from clothing to school computers to industrial products can be protected against theft and counterfeiting. Moreover, our technologies can identify assets impossible to be tagged before. For instance, when we mix into concrete, its type, grade and manufacturer details will never be lost. This provides quality assurance and process controls for the building industry and other commercial applications.