Port lapses 'could allow terrorist attack'

AP



Washington: Lapses by private port operators, shipping lines or truck drivers could allow terrorists to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States, according to a government review of security at American seaports.

The $75 million, three-year study by the Homeland Security Department included inspections at a New Jersey cargo terminal involved in the dispute over DP World's now-abandoned bid to take over significant operations at six major US ports.

The previously undisclosed results from the study found that cargo containers can be opened secretly during shipment to add or remove items without alerting US authorities, according to government documents marked "sensitive security information" and obtained by The Associated Press.

The study found serious lapses by private companies at foreign and American ports, aboard ships, and on trucks and trains that would enable unmanifested materials or weapons of mass destruction to be introduced into the supply chain.

The study, expected to be completed this fall, used satellites and experimental monitors to trace roughly 20,000 cargo containers out of the millions arriving each year from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Most containers are sealed with mechanical bolts that can be cut and replaced or have doors that can be removed by dismantling hinges.

The risks from smuggled weapons are especially worrisome because US authorities largely decide which cargo containers to inspect based on shipping records of what is thought to be inside. Some of the study's findings are:

Safety problems were not limited to overseas ports. A warehouse in Maine was graded less secure than any in Pakistan, Turkey or Brazil. "There is a perception that US facilities benefit from superior security protection measures," the study said. "This mind set may contribute to a misplaced sense of confidence in American business practices."
Truck drivers in Brazil were permitted to take cargo containers home over-night and park along public streets.
Trains in the US stopped in rail yards that did not have fences and were in high-crime areas.
Containers could be opened aboard some ships during weekslong voyages to America. "Due to the time involved in transit (and) the fact that most vessel crew members are foreigners with limited credentialing and vetting, the containers are vulnerable to intrusion during the ocean voyage," the study said.
In theory, some nuclear materials inside cargo containers can be detected with special monitors. But in New Jersey, bananas, kitty litter and fire detectors - which all emit natural radiation set off the same alarms more than 100 times every day. "No silver bullet has emerged to render terrorists incapable of introducing WMD into containers," the report said.
Hundreds of pages of study documents obtained by the AP do not list specific security lapses at the New Jersey terminal. The final two cargo containers being tracked under the study were expected to arrive there this week from the Middle East.

The lengthy study has been beset by problems. Japan refused to allow officials to attach tracking devices, while others sometimes failed.

Many shipping companies refused to disclose information for competitive reasons. Parts of the study could not be finished at all.

US officials went to Pakistan to inspect how workers in Karachi handle cargo containers. But they, however, cancelled plans for a return inspection because of an outbreak of terrorist attacks there.

Meanwhile, Shaikha Lubna, UAE Minister of Economy, clarified yesterday that she did not comment of the postponement of free trade talks, as published in Gulf News yesterday.


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