by
Jennifer L. Rodriguez
TLMT605
July 15, 2012
Table of Contents
Abstract
Literature Review
Body of Content
1. Economic Impact
2. High Visibility/High Causalities
3. Ease of Attack
4. Conclusion
References
Abstract
Since the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased
security measures at airports that are continuously scrutinized. However, it appears on
the surface there is a disregard of the protection of seaports and container ships to
include early warning and response protocols. There are millions of pounds of cargo
entering the United States every day with ninety percent arriving through its seaports.
Inspection of approximately one percent of this cargo occurred in 2001, only increasing
to five percent by 2005. Because our way of life requires that cargo entering and
departing the United States remains secure it is even more crucial that sea ports are
properly protected and not open for terroristic attacks. We must have proactive measures
and procedures in place to address and prevent terrorist attacks on United States seaports.
Despite some security advances at our nation’s ports since 9/11, they are still very open
and vulnerable to a terrorist attack that could result in complete devastation.
Literature Review
The ports in the United States are not secure enough and we are still very vulnerable to terroristic attacks. This is significant to the emergency managers and homeland security practitioners because there are with more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals (Vesky, 2008). However, a large fraction of maritime cargo is concentrated at few major ports. Most ships calling at U.S. ports are foreign owned with foreign crews. Container ships have been the focus of much
References: Forest, J, Howard, R, Moore, J. (2005). Homeland Security and Terrorism. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. United States General Accounting Office. GAO-03-15: Combating Terrorism – Actions Needed to Improve Force Protection for DOD Deployments through Domestic Seaports. Washington, DC: GAO Office, 2002. Kamien, D. (2005). Homeland Security Handbook. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Nagel, K. (2010). The Voice of the Industry. AAPA Seaports Magazine. Retrieved July 7, 2012, from http://www.aapaseaports.com. McLearly, P. (2010, April). Port Security is a Global Issue. Aviation Week. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from http://www.aviationweek.com. Vesky, J. (2008). Port and Maritime Security. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers. Watts, R. (2005). Maritime Critical Infrastructure Protection: Multi-Agency Command and Control in an Asymmetric Environment. Journal of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.