Maritime and Ports

URS to design container inspection facility at Port of L.A.
San Francisco company is heading down the PCH to build a container inspection facility on site of the former United States Customs Building on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles; the project may cost upwards of $90 million
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Florida to require 2 IDs to enter state ports
Florida is tired of waiting for TWIC to get going, so it has initiated its own port employee security program in the state’s 14 ports; but now it appears that employees will have to equip themselves with two pieces of ID, costing them nearly $250
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California trucking association supports port security measures
It was unclear for a while whether California trucking association would support background checks on the more 12,000 drivers who come in and out of the sprawling twin ports of Los Anegeles and Long Beach; the trucking association ow say it is for it
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Industry wins initial skirmishes in battle over 100% cargo inspection
Security experts agree on two things: A terorist WMD will likely arrive in the U.S. inside a freight container, and the only solution is 100% container inspection; shipping industry says 100% inspection would hobble commerce, and its friends in Congress have so far managed to prevent inserting this requirement into shipping safety legislation
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Port worker background checks launched
Facing growing impatience in Congress and the port security community with waiting for TWIC, DHS is launching stop-gap measures which have the Coast Guard coordinating background checks for more than 400,000 port employees; when TWIC comes around, the number of people subject to background checks will double
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InfoZen wins large TSA contract
Maryland company wins contract to support TSA transportation worker program
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Industry: TWIC will cost thousands of jobs
The implementation of new ID cards has some worried that illegal immigrants and individuals with criminal convictions who now hold transportation positions may lose their job
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Shippers fight Sail Only if Scanned legislation
Congress is moving to enact a bill prohibiting the arrival in U.S. ports of ships not scanned for WMD; shippers say the bill will cripple business
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China to levy port security fees to cover costs of container inspection
China has that the cost of inspecting cargo containers to comply with UN-mandated security requirements should be borne by the shipper whose cargo it is supposed to monitor
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Hutchison pleads for greater U.S. trust
Security experts and legislators do not like the idea that Hutchison personnel, without U.S. custom agent supervision, would be entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring U.S.-bound cargo for radiation, but a Hutchison leader asks for greater trust
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New cottage industry: Helping shippers qualify for C-TPAT
Securing cargo containers is a massive — and lucrative — undertaking, and more and more companies want to participate, but you should see the paper work involved; there is thus a new industry emerging, one aiming to help large and small companies apply for DHS C-TPAT
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OSI shows new navigation solutions
By 2010 more than 30,000 commercial ships will be required to deploy Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (S-VDR); OSI is a leading developer of this and other navigational technologies for the civilian and military markets
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U.S. wants to place more U.S. customs agents in Chinese ports
There are U.S. customs inspectors in two Chinese ports, but with the volume of trade with China growing, the U.S. wants inspectors to be present at additional ports
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Former DHS IG calls on Congress to kill Hutchison Bahamas deal
The debate over assigning responsibility for scanning U.S.-bound containers for nuclear materials to a Hong Kong company with close ties to China is intensifying, with a former DHS IG calling on Congress to kill the deal
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House committee defeats Democrat-sponsored container security measure
Democratic minority in the House Homeland Security Committee wanted a strict timetable for implementing freight container security measure, but Republican majority defeats proposal
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