Sea Ports and Port Security Management - Assignment Example

Question Port security has been a topic of great debate among the Homeland Security since the 9/11 attack of September 2000. According to Vesky(2008)“The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 sea and river ports with more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals. However, a large fraction ofmaritime cargo is concentrated at a few major ports. Most ships calling at U.S. portsare foreign owned with foreign crews”(pg.11) Much port can be a victim of terrorist attack because of their accessibility to urban areas and due to their handling of numerous amounts of cargos. Since great numbers of trucks move in and out of ports it is easier for the terrorist to carry harmful things to the port vicinity. Some ports also have fishing and recreational boats that terrorists could use as an aid in performing their terrorist activities. Terrorist can use the shipping system to import weapons of mass destruction and other hazardous materials. Even smuggling of personnel can be a thing of major threat. If terrorist attack the sea port with nuclear bomb a large area can be destroyed. They can smuggle bomb into the country via different sea ports through sea containers which can pose as a serious threat to the country. Seaports attack can cause local and international destruction as it is globally connected. As there is lot of embarkation and disembarkation happening in the sea ports it is difficult to detect mal practices. Radical elements can import biological and chemical weapons to destroy the country which is a matter of great concern. Question 2 The coast guards are the major unit active in the port area to maintain the security system. The security atmosphere at seaports remains uncertain because of port infrastructure remaining uncompleted and also due to lack of proper co ordination in conveying of information about threats. “There is a wide range of vulnerabilities at seaports, including critical infrastructure such as bridges and refineries, shipping containers with unknown contents, and the enormous volume of foreign and domestic shipping traffic” (Decker,2002). Ports operate in a complex mode transport system, and weak linkages between components may result higher vulnerability Large scale military deployment would require to transport equipment needed by military heavily by sea .If the ports are attacked there could be a severe civilian causality and they could lose time and also cargo. Since infrastructure is inefficient the full potentiality of deployment cannot be utilized. There is lack of central authority to monitor the activities of the personnel installed along the ports. Moreover during the course of deployment there can be non government entities involved as they are given custody of military equipments at certain occasions. These people can be favorable to terrorism acts and can counter act with government policies. Lack of proper technology and communication facility among the military force can hinder their working quality and efficiency. Unity of command is very essential to react efficiently during adverse situations and possible terror attacks. All the sea ports should have a mechanism to co ordinate and work as a team without which deployment can be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Question 3 Sea ports can be used in numerous ways by the terrorist and it is an easy target to attack. A suicide bomber can access the ports through sea and can trigger explosion or they can place remote controlled bombs to create explosion in the containers or vessels. Sea ports have vessels and containers and different varieties of ships and boats arriving from various countries, which can make access to ports easy. Attack can happen when the ships are docked at ports or in the international water during the sailing of the ship. The new terrorists are equipped with sophisticated technology and can infiltrate in to any highly secured system. They can use the chemical warfare which is highly dangerous and is very difficult to detect. Cordesman(2000) stated that “Al-Qaeda is the best-known transnational terrorist organization. In addition to pursuing its own terrorist campaign, it calls on numerous militant groups that share some of its ideological beliefs to support its violent campaign against the United States”.With the threat being so unambiguous the defense is very skeptical about the system to be adopted in order to combat the terrorist attack. The threat on sea transportation system is high, as more attempts of attack have been made on an airline which has higher security than sea port. Since series of threats emerge from Al Qaeda through tapes, threat level on US is becoming higher. Terrorist can attack any place at any time due the presence of large radical elements and groups operating throughout the world. “Homeland security is focused on terrorism in the United States…Terrorists can be U.S. citizens or foreigners, acting in concert with others, on their own, or on behalf of a hostile state”(Goss,2006). Question 4 Sea ports are a vital element of the American economy and national security. There are numerous ports in the country and they play a crucial role in the economical activity of the country with international counterparts. Ports have different companies to provide services to manage the flow of containers, so the security responsibilities are also divided. The water ways are mainly under the responsibility of coast guards and verification of containers entering the ports from other countries are under U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Christopher (2009)in his book wrote”Ports present an attractive target for terrorist and developing criminal conspiracies due to their component role in national and local economies”(pg .133) .The government should introduce new cargo security policy which can work with international partners mainly from Middle Eastern region in order to minimize the smuggling of terrorist to the country borders. The United States should imply strict rules regarding containers shipped from terrorist prone countries and vigilant checking system should be suggested by working as a team with their government. The legislation has to implement policies to upgrade the surveillance system of the ports in major cities to defend terrorist attacks. The important aspect of port security is the protection of cargo. “There are millions of pounds of cargo entering the United States every day with ninety percent arriving through its seaports”(Breaux,2001).Customs and coast guard employees must be remunerated well so that they input an extra effort in securing the national security. Moreover equipments involved in the communication among the officials should be more sophisticated and should be above the standards of radical groups so as to avoid their attacks. So law should be passed to improve technology and surveillance system of the ports of the cities. Bibiliography Breaux, J.L. (2001) Seaport Protection Against Chemical And Biological Attacks. Retrieved June 22,2010, from http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA501459 Christopher, K. (2009). Port security management. Florida: Taylor & Francis Group. Cordesman, A.H. (2000) Defending America. Retrieved June 22,2010, from http://www.nationalhomelandsecurityknowledgebase.com/Resources/currfutureterrthreat.pdf Decker , R.J. (2002) Combating Terrorism. Retrieved June 22,2010, from http://cryptome.org/gao-02-955tni.htm Goss, T. (2006) Homeland Security Affairs. Retrieved June 22,2010, from http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=2.1.2 Vesky, J. (2008). Port and maritime security. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc.. Read More