NEW YORK, April 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- American Detection Technologies, Inc. (AMDETECH), a homeland security company and national leader in contraband detection services using highly trained canine teams, today announced that it has signed a contract with Carnival Cruise Lines to provide canine screening for all Carnival vessels. Under the terms of the contract, AMDETECH is providing canine teams to search all deliveries before they are loaded onto Carnival vessels at the 16 Carnival locations where provisioning is done.
The 16 port locations where AMDETECH will provide its canine detection services are: Miami, San Pedro/Long Beach, Vancouver, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Port Everglades, San Diego, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Gulfport, New Orleans, Galveston, St. Thomas, Norfolk, and Charleston. Services are already under way in Miami, Tampa, Gulfport, Port Canaveral, New Orleans, Galveston, San Pedro/Long Beach, and San Diego, with the other locations scheduled to begin imminently.
"We are very pleased to announce that a world-class company as well-known and distinguished as Carnival has chosen AMDETECH to join their substantial security program, which is the highest endorsement possible of the high quality of our premier canine detection services," said Ronald H. Allen, Chief Executive Officer of AMDETECH. "This agreement to service the Carnival fleet immediately places AMDETECH in the top tier of canine detection companies worldwide, and positions our organization to fulfill its objective to become the dominant contraband detection and maritime security service in the world."
Robert W. Becker, Staff Manager of Carnival Cruise Lines' Surveillance & Security Department, stated, "The safety and security of our guests is our highest priority. This is an important element of our overall security program and we spent a great deal of time and effort in researching and selecting a canine company. We ultimately chose AMDETECH based on their long-time experience in canine security and the quality of their dogs, handlers and training programs, as well as their ability to service all of our locations. We look forward to a long-term business relationship with AMDETECH."
In addition to Allen, AMDETECH's "Team Carnival" will be led by AMDETECH Vice President Edward Griffin from his location at the company's Palm Beach Gardens, Florida office, and Ronald Gray, AMDETECH Operations Manager, who operates from the company's Worcester, Massachusetts office. These three AMDETECH executives will be in charge of the vast network of trained and certified canines and handlers that provide the services at Carnival's 16 locations, all meeting the standards required by the U.S. Department of the Treasury "Odor Recognition Proficiency Standard" and Department of Defense standards.
Allen said that AMDETECH's primary team members and trainers have a total of more than 100 years of dog training experience in explosive & narcotic detection and police patrol and tracking. Team members have been trained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Drug Enforcement, U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.
AMDETECH also is providing to Carnival its proprietary, client-accessible "DogTrack" Internet database, including wireless capabilities, to track handler and dog records, incident reports, and positive wireless identification of dogs at job sites.
AMDETECH also has strategic partnerships with Southern Hills Kennels, Inc. of Daytona Beach, Florida, and International K-9 College in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to provide dog training, kenneling facilities and additional personnel for AMDETECH's complete narcotic and explosive detection services.
In February, AMDETECH had announced an agreement to manage and operate Spectrum Security Services, Ltd., a security guard and passenger screening business based in Honolulu, Hawaii, and operating throughout the Hawaiian Islands. AMDETECH also made an equity investment into Spectrum and holds two seats on Spectrum's Board of Directors. Spectrum, a wholly owned subsidiary of 100-year-old Waldron Steamship Company based in Honolulu, is functioning as a subsidiary coming under the AMDETECH umbrella of companies. AMDETECH's Vice President for Pacific Operations Charles P. Smith is in charge of operations for Spectrum, overseeing the day-to-day operations and business affairs of the company.
ABOUT AMERICAN DETECTION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (AMDETECH)
American Detection Technologies, Inc. (AMDETECH), with offices in New York City, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Hawaii, provides the premier detection service available today in servicing the ports of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Canaveral, Tampa, Palm Beach, Manatee, Jacksonville, Boston, New York, Seattle, Honolulu, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec City, as well as Carnival's locations. AMDETECH's highly qualified canines are "Bred to Detect and Protect" through rigorous training, and then only the top performers are selected to work for the company. AMDETECH's services include explosive detector dog teams, narcotic detector dog teams, hand-held ION scanner searches, narcotic substance and residue testing, port security surveys, and threat assessments. Types of customers include cruise ships, port facilities, government buildings, celebrities, universities, schools, and medical facilities. AMDETECH's handlers have exemplary backgrounds, including federally regulated training programs, as well as AMDETECH's own strict training regimens. AMDETECH's dogs meet or exceed certification standards of the United States Police Canine Association (U.S.P.C.A.) the National Police Canine Association (N.P.C.A.), and regarding explosive detector dogs, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
AMDETECH Chief Executive Officer Ronald H. Allen has more than 29 years' experience as a police officer, during which time he has completed numerous police dog training seminars hosted by various sponsoring agencies nationwide, including the Narcotic Detector Dog Trainer Program sponsored by the U.S. Customs Detector Dog Training Center in Virginia. Allen was formerly National Vice President of the United States Police Canine Association; Director of K-9 Training for the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council; a member of the Task Force responsible for the first statewide K-9 certification program in the U.S.; a member of the K-9 Training minimum standards Task Forces for New York and Florida; a K-9 Judge, Witness, Evaluator, Consultant, Program Developer, Trainer and Handler at various police departments in Massachusetts, Florida and Louisiana; and was the first American police officer to teach detector dog training in Russia in 1994.
AMDETECH is an Associate Member of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) and a member of the National Cargo Security Council (NCSC). For more information, please visit the company's website at www.amdetech.com.
ABOUT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
Carnival is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world with 18 "Fun Ships" operating voyages ranging from three to 16 days in length to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, New England, Canada and Bermuda. The line currently has four new ships with an estimated value of $1.8 billion scheduled for delivery between now and 2005.
For a previous AMDETECH news release with photo and logo, click below:http://www.newstream.com/us/public_story.html?7478
More information on Homeland Security issues, including news releases, events and experts available for comment, can be found on the Homeland Security Newsline at www.primezone.com/hs
The American Detection Technologies, Inc. company logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=524