POINT – COUNTERPOINT

On November 18, 2002, the US House Subcommittee held a hearing on the subject of port security. In the time that followed, Crown Relocations sent a few questions to two of the hearing’s attendees: Frank McDonough of the New York Shipping Association and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-New York).


Frank M. McDonough, President, New York Shipping Association
Frank M. McDonough spent 21 years in the United States Marine Corps where his training included maritime logistics and combat cargo operations. Mr. McDonough was elected President of the New York Shipping Association in December 2001.

Q: What is your view of the current state of port security nationally and internationally?
A: Prior to September 11, the issue of port security was never very high profile. It was looked at more in terms of criminal activity. And unless you had criminal activity in your port, you didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about port security. Theft, cargo theft, smuggling, immigration violations. These are the kinds of issues we dealt with prior to September 11, and even that was limited to certain ports . . Now, things that we’d never thought about before, like backing up your data, have become major issues.

Q: How do you secure ports without stopping trade?
A: I think it’s relatively simple in concept it’s just complex in execution: securing the port of embarkation.

Q: And how do you do that?
A: Well, you enter into agreements with other governments or private owners who operate those facilities so you can have your people on the ground inspecting those containers. You enter into agreements with the shippers. You do profiling, in the sense that you analyze the providers of the cargo, what their backgrounds are, what kind of history they have in the shipping business.

Cargo doesn’t go from point A to point B anymore; it hasn’t done that for 50 years. The ship can start in, let’s say, Hong Kong. It can hit six ports on the west coast and then go through the Panama Canal where it could drop something off and pick up something else; after that, it could come up the east coast, hit two or three ports in Mexico, go up to Freeport in the Bahamas and finally end up in the port of NY/NJ. That’s a lot of stops, and a lot of places along the way where someone can introduce something on board. So, the systems have not only got to make sure that what leaves the original port is not only initially secure, but that it stays secure for the entire trip.

Q: How realistic is it to inspect 100% of the containers?
A: Can’t be done. We get 3 million containers a year at the port of New Jersey alone. You can’t inspect every box, at least, not with today’s technology. Maybe down the line. It’s not out there right now.

You’d have to do this at the terminal’s edge. Once it’s in the terminal, it’s economic disaster. That’s why you have to do it all overseas.

Q: What about inspection during transit?
A: It’s a physical impossibility out there unless you want to see a lot of people in the drink. The only place you can do it is in the port before the vessel leaves. You certainly can’t take a box out of the bottom of the stack and inspect it, especially not while you’re in motion.

You have to have trained people in advance; you have to have contingency plans. You have to know who’s in charge, you have to have equipment.

Q: What is the government’s role?
A: Command and control. I have no problem with that; I also think they should fund maritime security. They fund the federal highway system; they fund the aviation security system. So why are we being left to fund the maritime security system?

Q: What is the private sector’s role?
A: To do everything in its power to make sure things are secure as possible and they’re doing that. There are nearly 100 major players signed up for the C-TPAT program, a security program where our guys cooperate with customs to make sure the cargo that they’re handling is secure.

Q: What can be done in the short term?
A: The coast guard has done an analysis and is making a number of recommendations. They’ve put together three different teams to develop contingency plans in order to respond to incidents. It’s important to have a team that can respond literally in minutes, and give them the resources so they can respond intelligently.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, D-New York
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney was first elected to the US House of Representatives after defeating a 14 year incumbent in 1992. After graduating from Greensboro College, Ms. Maloney worked for several years as a teacher and an administrator for the New York City Board of Education. In 1977, she went to work for the New York State legislature and held senior staff positions in both the New York State Assembly and the State Senate. In 1982, Ms. Maloney ran for public office for the first time and won a seat on the New York City Council where she spent 10 years before becoming a US Congressional representative. Ms. Maloney is a member of the Committee on Government Reform which oversees the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations.

Q: What is your assessment of the current state of port security?
A: Our ports, in all honesty, are extremely vulnerable to terrorist activity and so far; we haven’t made nearly enough progress in making them safer. We are inspecting every sneaker and shirt collar at airports across the country, but we are letting thousands of ten-ton containers into port without screening their contents. As the General Accounting Office has said, he national’s ports are far more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than the nation’s aviation system.ar
Q: What, in your opinion, is the greatest weakness of port security? Or, where is the greatest need for immediate improvement?
A: Less than two percent of shipping containers are inspected when they enter one of dozens of US seaports. We’re letting thousands of containers into port without even a cursory glance at their contents. The ABC News investigation demonstrated just how porous the nation’s ports really are – with 15 pounds of uranium transported into the country successfully – without even a single hint of its movement across our borders.

Q: What is the government’s role?
A: Streamlining port security jurisdictions, investing in the best possible nuclear detection equipment, strengthening international cooperation for port inspections. These efforts have everything to do with the future security of not only New York and New Jersey, but of the entire country.

Q: How long would it take to institute enough changes in port security to where you might be able to declare them as satisfactory?
A: It is a new time in America, in some way a difficult time – that each morning talk show, and every evening news cast, warns of a new terrorist threat or imminent attack. As difficult as it may be to absorb this information and remain vigilant, we know the threat is real. Our port security should be every bit as strong and thorough as our aviation security is becoming. I thank all the professionals at our ports of entry for the work they do, day in and day out, to help protect and defend us from future terrorist activity.