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Ridge Announces New Maritime Security Regulations
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge yesterday announced a new set of maritime security regualtions designed to better improve U.S. ships and ports against a possible terrorist attack (see GSN, July 2). Under the new regulations, maritime vessel and facility operators will be required to conduct security assessments and to develop security plans that must be submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard for approval, according to a Homeland Security press release. In addition, vessels and facilities are required to increase security as the terrorism threat alert level increases. The regulations also require that security officers be designated for each vessel and facility and that Automatic Identification Systems be installed on all large ships, the department release said. The new regulations were published in the Federal Register Wednesday and replace interim rules that were issued in July. “With 95 percent of our nation’s overseas cargo carried by ship, maritime security is critical to ensuring our nation's homeland and economic security,” Ridge said (U.S. Homeland Security Department release, Oct. 23). All U.S. ports are required to have a security plan in place by July, Ridge said. Some maritime officials are concerned, however, with the economic and operational challenges they expect to face when implementing the new regulations, according to the Baltimore Sun. “There is not enough money to go around, yet the mandate is there,” said Helen Delich Bentley, a port consultant in Baltimore. “This is going to take an awful lot of doing,” she said. The Coast Guard has estimated that the required security improvements will cost $7.3 billion, the Sun reported. Only about $400 million in federal funding, however, has been allocated for maritime security (Meredith Cohn, Baltimore Sun, Oct. 24). Ridge yesterday acknowledged concerns over paying for the new security improvements, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We still have to conclude who’s to pay for what share of what,” he said. Ridge also said that his department would need to “look more aggressively” at businesses that use ports to help cover the cost of new security measures. “Now is the time for us to have that very important public discussion with regard to the balance between public and private dollars to pay for security around private-sector assets,” he said (Jennifer Lin, Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 24).
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