Security Challenges Facing Seaport
Operations
Day 1 - Module 3
MODULE OBJECTIVES
• This module will enable you to:
– Identify the security challenges existing in the
seaport environment
– Understand the scope and magnitude of
potential threats to seaports
– Familiarize you with practical examples of
security problems likely to be faced by security
professionals at seaports
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CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AT
SEAPORTS
Seaports are exceptionally vulnerable to:
• International / domestic criminal activity
• Terrorism
• Smuggling of drugs, weapons, and
illegal migrants
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CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AT
SEAPORTS - VULNERABILITIES
• Internal conspiracies
– Present the greatest challenge to security and law
enforcement at seaports
– Exploit vulnerabilities
– Exploit industry employees access to seaport
areas and/or specific knowledge of customs and
security activities
– Facilitate and monitor illegal shipments concealed
inside cargo shipments of legitimate importers /
exporters
• Stowaways and trafficking in illegal aliens
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CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AT
SEAPORTS
• Trade fraud and commercial
conspiracies
• Environmental crimes
• Cargo theft
• Unlawful export of controlled goods,
munitions, stolen property, and drug
proceeds
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ROLE OF SEAPORT
SECURITY
• Recognized universal standardization of port
facility security programs have not existed
• “Security” has meant different things to different
organizations
– Working definition of “Security”: Measures aimed at
neutralizing vulnerability to criminal activity and security
threats
• The IMO/ISPS Code is designed to provide
minimum standards that have not previously been
in place:
– Universal security guidelines to strengthen maritime
security
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ROLE OF SEAPORT SECURITY
• Seaports operate within a dynamic intermodal
transport system; weak links between
components = higher vulnerability:
– A relatively secure seaport is still exposed by
vulnerabilities within the larger intermodal system
in which it operates
– Linkages (airports, rail yards, truck yards,
highways, etc.) are exceptionally vulnerable
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ROLE OF SEAPORT SECURITY
• Seaport security operations involve a variety
of international, national, and local agencies
over which the seaport authorities themselves
often have no direct control:
– Customs
– Police, fire, emergency medical services
– Immigration and agriculture agencies
– Coast Guard and harbor authorities
– Transportation and utility regulating bodies
(railroads, highways, etc)
– Labor unions, etc.
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PORT SECURITY AWARENESS
• Information and intelligence sharing enhances port
security awareness. Vulnerabilities include:
– Inadequate intelligence sharing (i.e., the integration and
synchronization of activity among agencies)
– Insufficient law enforcement resources
– Inaccurate data on crime statistics - much criminal
activity goes unreported, patterns missed
– Lack of regularly scheduled security forum or committee,
and interagency collaborative processes
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ROLE OF SEAPORT
SECURITY
• Insufficient access control represents the
most common vulnerability of seaports to
criminal activity
– Procedures for determining access authorization
may vary from port to port – vehicles, cargo, and
people
– No photo identification cards, security access
lists, background checks
– Need for central security monitoring
– Control access of public transportation to port
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facility
ROLE OF SEAPORT
SECURITY
• Seaport security is the shared responsibility
of all the stakeholders / agencies involved in
port facility operations
– Interagency cooperative port security forum or
committee could be established to synchronize
security efforts
– Without sustainable efforts to coordinate and
integrate each stakeholder’s role, the port’s
security could be compromised
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ROLE OF SEAPORT SECURITY
• Seaports are complex operations which involve a
multitude of local, national, and international entities:
– Inconsistent security standards that cannot be enforced
• Responsibility for seaport security must be shared among
stakeholders and agencies to ensure efficient and effective
seaport operations
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Port management
Departments of Transportation
Cargo operators
Cruise lines
Shipping lines
Stevedores
Employees
Labor groups
Vendors
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CONSIDERATIONS FOR
SEAPORT SECURITY
• Common difficulties in securing seaports with respect to the
diversity found among various seaports:
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The type of national governance
The port organizational structure (private, public, multijurisdictional)
Funding mechanisms
Law enforcement and regulatory authorities
Geography (island, peninsula, proximity to metropolitan areas)
Labor structure (union, non-union, government)
Commercial operations
Cargo vs. cruise operations
Leadership is the most important factor in resolving these difficulties
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PRIMARY CHALLENGES TO
SECURING SEAPORTS
• Cooperative leadership among all those
having an interest in seaport operations
• Improved communication among all
seaport personnel
• Improvements in technologies and
methods of searching and inspecting
cargo and ships for contraband
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ADDRESSING CHALLENGES TO
SECURING SEAPORTS
• Statewide Security Assessment of Florida Seaports
identified the areas where port management has the
greatest opportunity to positively impact security:
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Leadership (This is the single most important element)
Access control
Photo ID cards
Fingerprint based criminal history background checks
Law enforcement presence
Standing port security committee or council
Port security planning
High-mast lighting
Segregated parking to prohibit POV access
Information security awareness
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Questions?