Shipping and Security in an Age of Terrorism

Shipping is a highly complex process that is crucial to the world economy. As such, it is a good target for security breaches from both pirates and terrorists. With hundreds of ships in the water every day, one can imagine the difficulty in ensuring the safety of the cargo and crew of each vessel. Since 95% of cargo tonnage enters the United States by sea, however, it is imperative that efforts are made to secure the integrity of the cargo, as well as the welfare of those handling it in good faith at sea.

A Multilayered Approach

It is logistically impossible to inspect every piece of freight entering the United States by sea.  Thus, the Department of Homeland Security must take a multi-layered approach, making physical inspection only one prong of the attack.

One part of that approach focuses on receiving advance notice of ships with cargo bound for the United States. The Trade Act of 2002 mandated that container ships give 24 hours advanced notice before they left port for the States, including detailed information about the contents of each container.

U.S. Customs also hooks up with the National Targeting Center, a database analysis station that can alert the agency of any suspected terrorists who are entering the country via any sort of transport. Finally, Customs uses a strategic analysis of all incoming shipments to statistically determine which ships are anomalies and potential threats.

Worldwide Cooperation

As international shipping has no borders, countries all around the world must be in cooperation about potential threats traveling by ship. Agreements between U.S. Customs and 50 ports around the world mean that high risk containers are screened before they are bound for the U.S.

Technology For Security

Tech is another weapon security officials have on their side against would-be terrorists. Technologies like gamma ray and x-ray scanners allow customs workers to effectively look inside a container, without ever opening it up. Customs officials also carry personal radiation detectors, so they are immediately notified if they near any sort of radioactive material. An impressive 77% of all containers entering the U.S. are screened for radiation.

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