Thwarting Piracy and Terror on the High Seas
July 2009
If we don't get piracy on the high seas
under control, it will only be a matter of time before a terrorist
organization like al-Qaeda takes advantage of free-trade vulnerabilities by
hijacking a large vessel and using it to cause death and destruction!
by David
Nicastro
Secure Source,
Inc.
Neither the U.S. government, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
the maritime industry, nor the shipping companies themselves can seem to get
a grip on the problem. According to statistics maintained by the Rand
Corporation, there have been over 1,800 attacks since 2004, and presently
pirates are holding more than 15 ships and 300 crew members hostage around
the world.
Security professionals believe it is only a matter of time before a
terrorist group uses a tanker or large cargo vessel to carry out a plot to
inflict mass casualties and wreak havoc on an already perilous global
economy. If this were to occur, the costs would be astronomical. Loss of
life, the resultant economic impact, and the ensuing downstream government
intervention and regulation could make the events of 9/11 pale in
comparison.
Before and since the Maersk Alabama
incident, there has been sporadic and unfocused debate around controlling
piracy on the high seas. Officials and pundits have seemingly failed to
grasp the overall gravity of the overarching threats, producing little
discussion and implementation of nor have the right countermeasures. On
April 30, 2009, Captain Richard Phillips testified before a Senate
Committee. He favored deploying military escorts and retired former law
enforcement officers, as well as arming merchant crew members, in order to
stave off pirates.
Risk Management Needed
It is obvious that what we need is a real-world, cost-effective approach
to protect crews and vessels and to stop the pirates in their tracks. More
importantly, the overall international sea lane security program needs to
show all the terrorists who are undoubtedly monitoring these events that the
maritime industry has implemented the right processes and plans to thwart
any efforts the rogues may make to exploit these weaknesses. Security
planning and preparedness goes hand-in-hand and needs to include enhancing
protection in an around U.S. ports and not only when navigating hostile
waters such as those around the Horn of Africa.
Good security starts at the top. Senior leadership in the shipping
companies and the unions that represent merchant marines need to embrace the
notion that it is worth their investing time and money in developing
integrated security processes, procedures, and materials needed to protect
employees, vessels, cargoes, and the public.
It seems foolhardy and wasteful to think of maritime security risks only
in the context of today's piracy problems without considering the potential
for a 9/11 attack on the high seas.
Developing a Security Program
So what is needed to build an effective ship security program? Once
committed, each shipping company and carrier should develop and implement
overlapping security countermeasures. Commanders and their crews of at-risk
vessels need to adapt, improvise, and overcome when looking at ways to
become a hardened target. A real-world approach would center around using
off-the-shelf security products that are legal in any port in the world and
providing safe havens for crew members on each vessel.
Carrying guns and deploying sniper teams are not appropriate measures.
Port officials would never allow armed crews within their jurisdictions. The
preferred approach would be to deploy various types of intrusion detection,
GPS, wireless CCTV and technologies, nonlethal weapons, and crew training
and avoidance procedures to thwart piracy on the high seas. An effective
security plan hinges on the ship's intrusion detection system. If crew
members can't identify a suspect vessel when it approaches their ship, then
they are open to a multitude of threats ranging from piracy to theft and, oh
yeah, terrorism.
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