• Pierce County Washington effort to upgrade marine fleet stymied by cost

    The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department needs a new patrol boat. The problem? A $730,000 price tag which has county officials balking

  • Delaware launches marine security unit

    Last week, Delaware showed off the latest additions to its law enforcement arsenal, two new high-tech boats aimed at protecting the state’s waterways and critical infrastructure; the boats come with the announcement of a new maritime patrol unit that will be staffed by three full-time state troopers and two part-timers

  • BSI will develop new system for screening cargo

    DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded a contract to BSI Group’s Supply Chain Solutions business unit for the creation of a protocol to aid the screening of cargo at U.S. ports

  • Somali pirates adapt and thrive

    Somali pirates have grown bolder and more clever in adapting to world attempts to curtail piracy; last month, they recorded their first hijacking of a ship anchored in port; total costs of piracy now reach $12B

  • Poor oversight, cost overruns plague Coast Guard’s modernization efforts

    More than $7 billion and ten years later, the U.S. Coast Guard has only built two ships out of its original twenty-five year, $24.2 billion plan to replace its aging fleet with more than 250 new or upgraded vessels; given the service’s procurement track record, Congress is hesitant to continue funding a program plagued by cost overruns, delays, and management problems

  • CBP, railroad settles smuggling dispute

    Smugglers use trains which go from Mexico to the United States to smuggle drugs and other contraband. In the last few years, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) has imposed fines totaling millions of dollars on Union Pacific Railroads for carrying the smuggled goods — even though UP maintained it knew nothing about the illegal shipments; CBP and UP have now settled their dispute

  • USSI showcases port security system

    To help secure U.S. ports and waterways which provide a vital link to the global supply chain, US Seismic Systems Inc. (USSI) has developed an underwater fiber-optic sonar system that detects small craft entering protected areas

  • Making rail travel more reliable

    U.K. researchers are collaborating with industry to develop novel optical sensors that detect when overhead power lines are likely to fail; the costly disruption to rail travel caused by the breakdown of overhead power lines could thus become a thing of the past

  • New task force helps protect Port of Virginia

    A new border security task force has been launched to help secure the Port of Virginia; the task force is comprised of ten officers and agents from a total of ten local, state, and federal agencies that will be responsible for securing the Port of Virginia against a variety of criminal acts including trade fraud, cargo theft, and the illegal smuggling of drugs, persons, currency, and weapons

  • Buoy system helps protect U.S. ports

    With America’s ports, waterways, and vessels handling more than $700 billion in goods annually, a terrorist attack on the system would have a crippling effect on the U.S. economy; to help mitigate these threats, Intellicheck Mobilisa has developed Aegeus, a series of buoys which have the capability of creating a surveillance perimeter that detects incoming vessels, biological substances, and even nuclear bombs

  • Underwater nuke detecting drone

    Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) could soon be prowling the nation’s coastline to detect radiological and nuclear threats; the underwater drones, developed by New Jersey based Princeton Security Technologies, Inc., are equipped with radiological isotope identification hardware to monitor any changes below the water

  • ASIS Conference: Securing the global supply chain

    At the upcoming annual ASIS International security conference, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about protecting the global supply chain at one of the many educational sessions; officials fear that a terrorist attack on a seaport could cripple a local economy and have global repercussions. As nearly 90 percent of the world’s goods are still shipped via containers on massive transport ships

  • U.S. no longer mandating 100 percent screening of cargo containers

    DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the United States is no longer going to screen every cargo container before it enters the United States; she said, “We believe the so-called 100 percent requirement is probably not the best way to go”; in 2007 Congress mandated that all containers entering the United States must be scanned at their ports of exit by 2012; the 2007 bill empowers DHS to extend the 2012 deadline if the agency believed that the goal was not achievable and in the past Napolitano has expressed doubts about the feasibility of screening 100 percent of the cargo entering the United States

  • New Coast Guard vessel exceeds expectations in rough Alaskan waters

    The U.S. Coast Guard’s new line of flagship vessels, the National Security Cutter (NSC), has proven invaluable to the agency’s mission since its deployment in 2009; the vessels’ capabilities reflect the additional responsibilities that the Coast Guard has shouldered since the 9/11 attacks; the new Legend Class National Security Cutters come as the replacement for the Coast Guard’s aging Hamilton Class High Endurance Cutters that have been in operation since the 1950

  • Bomb sniffing dogs deployed to Long Island ferry

    A New York ferry company has become the first in the United States to receive federal grants to pay for the deployment of explosive detection canine teams; the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company is teaming up with Long Island K-9 service to use bomb sniffing dogs to detect any explosives aboard the ferries; the canine teams will inspect every car that enters the ferry; teams were initially deployed on 13 May and the contract will last for three years