NEW YORK — Five years after 9/11, the international maritime industry continues to grapple with vulnerabilities in the supply chain and a mounting threat from terrorist organizations.
The industry has made significant strides in improving physical security at port facilities and is pushing forward to require that more extensive information be gathered and documented for cargo containers. However, speakers at the fifth annual Maritime Security Expo & Conference, held here Sept. 19-20, said there is a long way to go in industry efforts.
John Lehman, a member of the 9/11 Commission and former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, set the tone in his opening remarks, giving mixed grades on the country’s overall efforts to improve security and fight terrorists here and abroad.
“Are we winning this war [on terror]?” asked Lehman. “It is now five years since 9/11. If you equate it with Pearl Harbor, it would have been finished over a year ago.”
Lehman noted there were obvious problems on the home front that have yet to be addressed. He sharply criticized the manner in which the government has distributed Homeland Security funds, giving large sums of money to states with a relatively low likelihood of being attacked.
Communications for first responders have also not been improved. Lehman noted that police and fire officials were unable to effectively communicate on 9/11 due to the availability of only a handful of radio frequencies. While many other frequencies are available, Lehman said the country’s major TV broadcasters hold the rights to them. Despite not currently using those frequencies, the networks have lobbied vigorously in recent years to prevent losing them.
The World Trade Center attack also highlighted that emergency exit stairwells were too narrow to effectively allow the occupants of an entire building to evacuate quickly. Stairwell walls have been constructed of drywall rather than concrete, offering no protection in an emergency. These issues haven’t been addressed in new construction standards, said Lehman.
“On the home front, it’s a mixed picture,” said Lehman. “On the one hand, we haven’t been attacked…on the other hand, there are obvious vulnerabilities that have not been addressed.”
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Lehman believes the biggest failure in fighting terrorism has been on a geopolitical level. While the use of military force may disrupt terrorist operations, the ranks of these organizations are constantly being fed by what Lehman characterized as a web of “jihadist schools.” Lehman believes the U.S. has failed to put enough, if any, political pressure on foreign governments that allow these schools to freely operate.
He pointed to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia as countries where schools are sprouting up.
Stephen Flynn, senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, believes the threat to the maritime industry has changed. Initial fears focused on the supply chain being used to deliver a weapon of mass destruction to U.S. shores. Today, the primary concern is preventing a large-scale disruption in the flow of goods.
“If I’m looking to cause mass disruption…I want to spook the system,” said Flynn.
Doing so, he said, doesn’t necessarily require a terrorist to carry out a complicated strategy. The most recent example, he noted, has been the E. coli scare, which has effectively halted the spinach industry. In August, the scare over the creation of liquid bombs crippled the airline industry.
He also believes the alleged thwarted terrorist plot in London showed that the next threat is likely to come from within American borders. As a result, Flynn believes engaging the public and private sectors and raising the awareness of those people operating in and around ports should be a top priority. Terrorists do have constraints, according to Flynn. They must find a safe place to live, must choose a target, conduct surveillance and have only one shot at carrying out an attack.
“Once you use an operational cell, you lose it,” noted Flynn. “It takes a couple of years before [the terrorists] can put their next footprint down.”
Christopher Koch, president and chief executive officer of the World Shipping Council, believes the key to keeping trade moving in the event of an attack will be the industry’s ability to provide the government with adequate information. The WSC is pushing to include data beyond the contents and point of origin of a container. Regulations are being proposed that would require cargo information to include the buyer and seller of a container’s contents, as well as who packed the container prior to it being loaded on a ship.
“If the trade expects the government to allow trade to flow in a stressful situation, the trade will need to provide enough information to build that confidence,” said Koch.