Coda Applauds GAO Report on US Port Security
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Coda Octopus Group, Inc. (OTCBB: CDOC), a world leader in underwater terrorism prevention, headquartered here, said today it applauded the recent GAO report released on Tuesday identifying significant gaps in the US port security program - most particularly our nation's ability to deter a potential terrorist attack.
Coda Octopus CEO Jason Reid said that the report "Reminds us that nearly seven years after September 11, the potential threat to our ports remains virtually unchanged."
Reid said that Coda Octopus has received "Tremendous support from the US Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security in developing and perfecting a new generation of technology that can "see" underwater, and both identify and classify potential intruders and objects the size of a baseball from a distance of up to 100 meters."
Reid pointed out that Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead have recently discussed the ability of the U.S. government to conduct surveys of domestic ports to help defend the country against a potential underwater mine or improvised explosive device attack. In an April 9 interview for "Inside the Navy" the top Coast Guard officer said "What we've been discussing with NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration), the Navy and everybody else is how to come up with a standardized, repeatable process to do port surveys ... we're putting together a plan on how to do it, everyone is in agreement we need to do it and we're going through the first year of (figuring out how to) program that into budgets."
Nonetheless, Reid said "The ability to actually deploy next generation technology in the ports on a scale that would be necessary to make our nation meaningfully safer, would require a significant improvement in the level of coordination and support between local port authorities and relevant federal agencies."
Coda Octopus is the developer and patent holder of real-time 3D sonar technology, and has introduced the Echoscope(TM) as its lead product. The Company has sold and successfully deployed 30 of its Echoscope technology systems in seven countries in the Pacific Rim, Middle East, Europe and North America. The Echoscope(TM) is also being deployed for various commercial applications, worldwide.
Reacting to the GEO report, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY stated "The bottom line is the DHS has basically passed the buck on port security by allowing shipping companies to police themselves with almost no oversight." Reid said he agreed with Schumer that we need stronger leadership and better oversight. "All of us involved in this effort from both the public and private sectors need to do a better job educating the American people both about the nature of the threat, and about the steps being taken to make us all safer" Reid said.
About Coda Octopus Group, Inc.
Founded in 1994 as Coda Technologies, the Coda Octopus Group has grown to encompass five companies and is headquartered in New York. All of the Group companies operate within the technology innovation, product development and engineering services sphere with facilities in Washington D.C., Florida, Utah, New York, the UK and Norway. Alongside providing custom engineering and development to navies, oil and gas, nuclear and medical clients around the world, one of the key products is the Coda Echoscope(TM) - the first real time 3D sub sea sonar. The Coda Echoscope(TM) is the heart of the Coda Underwater Inspection System(TM) being adopted for homeland security in ports around the world and which can be linked to land based surveillance systems utilizing secure wireless communications developed by Innalogic, Inc. With this patent revolutionizing sub sea visualization, and the existing systems integration skills within Colmek Systems Engineering, Inc and Martech Systems Engineering Ltd, the Coda Octopus Group companies believe they are well on the way to becoming the world's leading integrated sonar technology supplier.
For further information, please visit http://www.codaoctopusgroup.com or contact Coda Octopus at info@codaoctopusgroup.com.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words such as Coda Octopus Group plans, expects, should, believes, anticipates or words of similar import. Stockholders, potential investors and other readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are predictions based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future events or results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of those risks and uncertainties are discussed in registration statement on Form SB-2 and include, but are not limited to, market acceptance of Coda Octopus' planned products and their level of sales, access to the capital necessary to finance and grow the business, a highly competitive environment in the security field that includes numerous large and well established companies much larger than ours, and our ability successfully to deploy our technologies and products to meet the technical demands and market requirements of our customers. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and Coda Octopus Group does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Source: Coda Octopus Group, Inc.
Released May 29, 2008