Homeland Security Puts Boaters on Notice
Agency Announces a Comprehensive Small Vessel Security Strategy
We like to think of the water as our sanctuary, our getaway from the stresses of life on terra firma. But just as tranquil waters often turn stormy, we must also beware of the possibility that there is a different kind of danger on our waterways. Now, our government has confirmed what has lurked in the back of many a boater’s mind; There could be terrorists out there.
By Michelle Davis
On April 28th Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff unveiled a Small Vessel Security Strategy designed to address security gaps in the recreational boating community. The 57 page report outlines a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of several possible terrorist schemes that could be carried out by small boating vessels within U.S. inland waterways. The report makes the case that the small vessel boating community is particularly vulnerable due to the large number of vessels that are not centrally registered, the lack of any effective means to detect vessel-borne hazards, and the time-honored tradition in the boating community of largely unrestricted access to U.S. waterways.
The Threats
The report lists four types of terrorist threats that it believes the boating community is vulnerable to; “small vessels might be used to smuggle terrorists or weapons of mass destruction into the United States or might be used as either a standoff weapon platform or as a means of a direct attack with a waterborne improvised explosive device.”
It is clear in the report that the October 2005 attack on the U.S.S. Cole, which killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors when terrorists steered a small boat loaded with explosives alongside the destroyer, has heightened the security establishment’s concerns about the tenacity and capabilities of hostile groups in the maritime domain. However, Homeland Security offers several more successful and nearly successful attacks that occurred in other locales, although none received as much press attention as the U.S.S. Cole incident. In 2004 two U.S. Navy sailors and one U.S. Coast Guardsman were killed at an offshore oil terminal in the North Arabian Gulf by terrorists using fishing dhows packed with explosives. Similar strikes have been directed against a French oil tanker, military vessels in Sri Lanka, and one unsuccessful attack was lodged against a cruise ship in Turkey.
The Strategy
The cornerstone of the department’s strategy is the boating community, the report describes the small vessel community as “the single largest asset in the efforts to mitigate small vessel-related security risks,” and “an effective agent for reducing risk…” This strategy translates into the department’s aim of enhancing maritime awareness. The goal is to create the free flow of information between the boating community and law enforcement organizations, much like neighborhood watch programs. The U.S. Coast Guard is at the forefront of this idea. In 2003, it established the America’s Waterway Watch (AWW) program. The Coast Guard describes the program as the culmination of various regional and local waterfront watch programs under a “national umbrella.” The program provides information to be included in boating safety programs, explains what suspicious activities to look for and how to report them, as well as what preventative measures to take to minimize risk.
What Does All This Mean for Boaters?
While the report commends AWW for its success, Secretary Chertoff indicated in his remarks that AWW alone will not suffice in the face of the threat, describing the SVSS as a replacement for today’s “honor-based neighborhood watch program.”
The report does detail three other major goals to augment small vessel maritime security; a layered defense strategy, the use of technology, and coordination efforts between government agencies and between the public and law enforcement. The layered defense strategy contemplates better identification of small vessels, perhaps, through a national registration system, but the agency denies that it will propose a national boating license requirement. The agency’s technology initiative includes the use of portable nuclear and radiological detection equipment. The agency is already operating a pilot project with this technology in the Puget Sound.
While the agency’s guiding principles include “ongoing engagement” with the small vessel boating community, the agency’s actual small vessel security implementation plan will likely not be released to the public because of security concerns. Thus, the best source of information about what security measures Homeland Security is actually taking may just be out there on the water.
