[ OUR OPINION ]
LAST week's threat of explosives hidden aboard a Honolulu-bound cargo ship turned out to be baseless, but the response by authorities showed the heightened concern about terrorism at the nation's seaports. Security against such terrorist attacks remains inadequate and should be improved by measures included in a bill that Congress is expected to enact next month. Port security bill
should tighten borders
THE ISSUE Congress is nearing agreement on a bill to increase security at the nation's seaports.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., has dropped his insistence on a user fee on shippers, allowing agreement on a port security bill that has been adrift for months in a House-Senate conference. The bill would authorize security assessment at U.S. seaports, require background checks for personnel in sensitive positions, pay for more detection equipment and require crew and cargo manifests for all incoming ships.
Other countries need to cooperate in detecting potentially deadly cargo. Malaysia reportedly is near agreement with the United States to join Singapore, Japan and several European countries in screening freight containers for chemical, biological or nuclear bombs before leaving port.
Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Coast Guard devoted little more than 1 percent of its operations on port security. It now spends more than half of its time and effort on that task, and sea marshals have been boarding ships before they enter U.S. ports. An e-mailed threat received by high-ranking Pearl Harbor officials prompted a thorough examination last week of a Danish cargo ship in Florida that was bound for Hawaii, but no explosives were found.
Government agencies rely on private companies involved in port operations to assist in security efforts. However, because of the many chores to be done in the handling of an immense volume of goods, lapses occur.
In April, a security plan calling for notification of the Coast Guard and local law-enforcement officials about serious incidents at Honolulu Harbor went unheeded on one occasion, according to the congressional General Accounting Office. Specially trained dogs had reacted to a pallet containing possible explosives being loaded onto a cruise ship. The pallet was set aside, but employees of the shipping agent and a private security company neglected to notify anyone. Coast Guard personnel finally noticed the pallet hours afterward during a foot patrol and inquired about it. Even then, agencies found it difficult to coordinate because their radios were operated on different frequencies.
"Fortunately, the Honolulu incident did not result in any injuries or loss, and Coast Guard officials said that it illustrates the importance of practice and testing of security measures," the GAO's JayEtta Z. Hecker told a House subcommittee. Proper procedures were followed after detection of another possible explosive at Honolulu Harbor since then, according to the Coast Guard. That may be reassuring, but learning from past mistakes is not acceptable as a continuing method of improvement in the war against terrorism.
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