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The Coast Guard has decided to extend by 30 days the comment period for individuals and organizations who want to offer their opinion on the proposed new Coast Guard rule that would require certain vessels and certain maritime facilities to install TWIC card electronic readers, rather than relying solely on the visible inspection of an individual’s TWIC card. Click here to read full article on Government Security News |
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When it comes to maritime security, piracy has become one of the most prevalent issues for NATO to deal with. In considering which nations are most involved in combating maritime piracy, Ukraine is probably not the first name that comes to mind. As it turns out, this non-NATO, non-EU Eastern European nation is heavily involved in the fight against piracy at sea. Ukraine has even become a valuable ally to NATO in anti-piracy campaigns, something not exactly expected from a nation so closely aligned with Russia on the geopolitical map. |
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On May 8th, GAO released a report on the TWIC Reader Pilot Program. This report states that the TWIC Reader Pilot results are unreliable and the security benefits needs to be reassessed. We, MSO and our experts contributors will review the report and publish an analysis over the next couple of days. |
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Maritime Security 2013 East, held April 15-17 in St. Petersburg, Fla., took for its theme “technologies and strategies to mitigate security threats in the maritime domain.” The maritime security conference brought together representatives of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), port authorities, law enforcement and equipment providers to discuss situational awareness, communications, networks, information sharing infrastructure protection. |
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This fourth installment of the series will wrap up our First-Order Risk Analysis. We have identified Threats and have quantified the Likelihood they would occur, our Vulnerability to them and the Impact should one of them be successfully prosecuted. The next step is the critical one of determining how you want to address them. Everyone, from Federal agencies down to local port operations, has to balance which risks they face against the limited resources (budget, personnel, equipment, facilities) they can apply to risk mitigation. |
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The overwhelming majority of small vessels operating in and around the United States coasts and in our ports and inland waterways are engaged in legitimate activities. However, a small number are platforms for illegal or illicit activities, such as human and drug trafficking, and may be used for waterborne attacks on our maritime infrastructure....In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) developed the Coastal Surveillance System (CSS)— a comprehensive maritime domain awareness system. |
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My Two Cents: I got a chance to skim through the 256 pages of the TWIC NPRM and got a very good summary from a very reputable friend and I find that there are many flaws. This post is to have you scratch your heads and that's really it. From the grouping of the users to the reader providers, there are a lot to discuss here. |
| Maritime Security 2013 West workshop and exhibition is going to Long Beach, CA. With great support from the local maritime security community, MS13 West is shaping up to be a great program. |
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TWIC NPRM ALERT Key Democrats called upon the US Coast Guard Tuesday to extend the comment period for a proposed rule for identification card readers at port facilities to allow more feedback from stakeholders of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). |
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The Impact of a port disaster is wide ranging from bad press, damage to the port infrastructure, damage to the environment, economic loss due the port closure and even loss of life. What would be the economic impact of a major port having to close due to a successful attack? |
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TWIC NPRM ALERT On March 22, 2013, the Coast Guard will publish the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the TWIC Reader in the Federal Register. To summarize, facilities and vessels are divided into risk groups and only the highest risk group (A) will need to use a reader. Lower risk groups will (for the time being) continue under the present regulatory requirements for TWIC visual inspection. This article is a summary of the NPRM with a downloadable link to full text of the NPRM. |
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If the U.S. authorities find themselves having to turn off the maritime-container-trade spigot, we will have effectively self-imposed a blockade on our own economy. —Stephen Flynn, Senior Fellow, Council of Foreign Relations Testimony to Senate Government Affairs Committee |
| Seebald & Associates International announced today that it will be hosting the first International FSO Conference in Niagara Falls, N.Y. on September 17-19, 2013. Edward Seebald, President, says “Industry leaders have been asking me, for years, to hold a meaningful conference to address all of the issues that face our regulated maritime facilities”. |
| I recently read the Editor’s Note, by Joseph Keefe, in the periodical Maritime Professional. I have to say Joe is spot on target. It was titled, “Are Stewardship and Compliance Mutually Exclusive”. I like Joe’s comments in reference to ownership, and that being in compliance is good business. I would like to address the security regulatory requirements only as they pertain to industry’s responsibility, or as Joe calls it “stewardship”. |
