A LOCKING system designed and manufactured in Droitwich, is set to prevent as much as $80 billion of cargo going missing every year.

The locking mechanism, E-Containerlock, which has been designed by the directors of Droitwich firm Guardfreight, Andrew Harrison and Wayne Cressman, can be fitted to a variety of different shipping containers, with roller shutter doors or trailer barn doors, as well as to bulk liquid tankers.

It aims to take care of a number of flaws currently experienced using conventional locks, and features a GPRS tracking system to let owners know where their cargo is and whether entry has been forced.

Mr Harrison said: “There are numerous ways of breaking into shipping containers, taking the contents and then closing them so it doesn’t look like they’ve been tampered with. We knew we could come up with a universal solution that would help tackle this issue.

“The innovation comes in the multiple sensors and GPRS technology that are built into the device. This gives clients the chance to monitor their cargo at any point of the journey and also receive alerts if the container is opened or tampered with. This is ideal for preventing theft of goods and for proving the exact place where the incident has occurred. It also ensures freight integrity from the time the locking mechanism was fitted to the time it is removed.”

The management team at Droitwich-based Guardfreight also believe its system could be used for tackling illegal immigrants, as the operator will know the moment a lock on any trailer or even a curtainside has been breached.

Mr Cressman, added: “The trials have gone really well and we are already using the results to effectively market the product to resellers, Governments and intermodal freight specialists.”