The Change Mariner

U.S. Puts World Ports On Notice

New York Times:

The response to this threat is a new law of the sea, spurred by Admiral Loy, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush 16 months ago. A parallel global code was adopted days later under American pressure by the United Nations's International Maritime Organization.

The law and the code set a July 1 deadline for all of the world's ships and ports to create counterterrorism systems -- computers, communications gear, surveillance cameras, security patrols -- to help secure America against an attack.

The cost of compliance at home and abroad will be many billions of dollars. Many American and foreign ports lack the funds to comply. But the cost of not complying could be steeper still. The law's demands create a stark confrontation between world trade and national security.

If a ship, or any one of the last 10 ports it visited, does not meet the new security standards, it can be turned away from American waters. If a port falls short, no ship leaving it can enter American harbors. That means ports, and their nations, can be barred from trading with the United States.

"We're dead serious about this," said Rear Adm. Larry L. Hereth, director of port security for the Coast Guard.