Maritime and Ports

Texas university offers maritime degree
The growing security mandates imposed on U.S. sea ports, and need to manage these mandates with but minimal disruption of the flow of commerce, have led Texas Southern University to begin to offer a new degree program in maritime transportation; the bachelor’s and master’s degrees will prepare students in three areas: maritime logistics, security, and environmental compliance
- Read more
DHS to Congress: reconsider cargo mandate
Congress passed a law requiring DHS to ensure that all U.S.-bound containers are scanned abroad by 2012; DHS told legislators that this mandate “needs to be thoughtfully reconsidered”
- Read more

U.S. to provide radar surveillance to Cameroonian coasts
The United States will provide Cameroon with sophisticated radar gear to monitor the country’s coastal water; the United States is concerned not only about the safety of Cameroonian coasts but also about that of the entire Gulf of Guinea, plagued by sea-hijackings
- Read more
Securing the homeland: Asset tracking in a layered security environment // by Ted Langhoff and Nishant Pillai
The need to effectively secure and track cargo, not just at the port, but throughout the supply chain — long before its arrival in the United States — has become an important priority and factors significantly into efforts to ensure U.S. national security
- Read more

Big problems with RFID deployment at Los Angeles-Long Beach ports
The first day of using RFID tags caused a reported 1,500 trucks to be turned away from the Port of Los Angeles and delays of more than an hour at the Port of Long Beach
- Read more
Raytheon offers airborne radar for India's homeland security
India is paying more attention — much more attention — to homeland security in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai bombing; among the first priorities is securing the very long coast lines of the country; Raytheon, already a presence in India, stands to benefit
- Read more

Accord reached on intensified campaign against Somali piracy
Nine countries around the Gulf of Aden sign an accord enhancing cooperation in the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden
- Read more
Napolitano issues first action directives
On her first day in office, new DHS secretary issues five action directives centering on protection of critical infrastructure, transportation, and on better intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local levels of government
- Read more

CBP highlights C-TPAT accomplishments
The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program (C-TPAT) was established in 2001 to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve international supply chain and U.S. border security; DHS says program is achieving its goals, with more than 8,000 applicants validated since 2003
- Read more
U.S. Coast Guard launches Long Range Identification and Tracking
New system, connected to the U.S. National Data Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia
- Read more

Congress to address port security
Chairman of a congressional panel returns from a visit to Honk Kong, Vietnam, and the Philippines and says Congress should make a decision next year on whether or not to move toward a 100 percent container inspection policy
- Read more
New U.S.-bound cargo security rule to go into effect in January
Current security regulations required importers and shippers to file entry information with U.S. Customs fifteen days before a ship arrives at a U.S. port; new regulations will require that shippers file much more detailed information — and do so before they even load the merchandise onto their ship at the port of origin; U.S. Customs will demand that suspicious cargo, or cargo about which the information is incomplete, not be loaded
- Read more

Somali pirates benefit from a global network of informers
During the past fifteen years many Somalis have left the country in search of work; many found jobs in major European and Middle eastern ports; some of them now serve as eyes and ears for the pirates back home, providing information about ships’ cargo, routes, and security on board
- Read more
Cruise passengers flown to Dubai to avoid pirates
The owners of the German cruise ship Columbus decided on a new way to deal with piracy off the coast of Somalia: The 246 passengers were flown to Dubai to await the ship — and the ship itself, with but a skeletal crew, sail at top speed through the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden, hoping to avoid being raided by pirates
- Read more
IMO calls on UN to take tougher action on piracy
The International Maritime Organizations urges countries with the naval capacity to do so “to take part actively in the fight against piracy and armed robbery against ships”
- Read more

More headlines