Port Security A Key Topic At Homeland Security Conference

Feb 26, 2008 4:24 PM

           

At the fourth annual ThinkTec Homeland Security Innovation Conference last week at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in Charleston, S.C., keynote speaker Owen Doherty, director of the Office of Security at the U.S. Maritime Administration, noted that port security isn't just about sophisticated X-ray machines and biometric identification cards.

It's also about eyes and ears.

Doherty said that while the economics of trade are vital, so is the security of the nation's commercial gateways and those overseas, reports Charleston's Post and Courier newspaper.

Doherty warned that a major security breach at a port could damage the entire supply chain, from the trucking industry and railroads to retailers and food suppliers. Often facing attacks on the frontlines, are workers for private shipping and freight companies who handle U.S.-bound cargo every day.

"Think of all the eyes and ears in the maritime community," Doherty said. "That's a great enabler of our first line of defense."

The three-day conference had a special focus on the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act, more commonly called the SAFE Port Act. The legislation, signed into law by President Bush in October 2006, requires all imported cargo containers to be scanned for radiation. It also establishes joint operations centers at ports to integrate local private-sector companies and state and federal partners. In addition, it mandates that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conduct and assess security measures in foreign ports.

According to the Post and Courier, Charleston has shown a significant increase in its port security.

Last September, a state-of-the-art X-ray inspection system that can see through 14 inches of steel was unveiled at Charleston's U.S. Customs and Border Protection Container Examination Station.

In addition, the State Ports Authority (SPA) now scans every imported container at the Port of Charleston for radiation using drive-through monitors at each of its terminals.

The region also is home to Project Seahawk, a unified counter-terrorism intelligence effort that brings together federal, state and local agencies to improve security at the port and in local waters.

Since 2002, DHS has awarded SPA nearly $24 million to help improve security on the waterfront, the newspaper reports.

Some of the next-generation anti-terrorism gadgets on display at the ThinkTec conference included an underwater acoustic sentinel security system that can detect divers swimming around vessels docked in port; hand-held biometric processors that can read identification cards and fingerprints; and a hand-held heat-sensing device for detecting hand- and footprints on walls and floors.

The technologies are a result of private companies teaming up with SPAWAR engineers to develop their ideas into working products.

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