Seraphim
08-01-2003, 02:26 AM
http://www.msnbc.com/news/946574.asp?vts=073120032230
http://a799.g.akamai.net/3/799/388/49c4bdbc8bad89/www.msnbc.com/news/1971713.jpg
A Coast Guard officer keeps an eye on a Seattle-based ferry as it takes on passengers and cars.
WASHINGTON, July 31 — The FBI is warning of increased al-Qaida interest in targeting U.S. ferry operations based on several reports of suspicious activity around ferry terminals. The weekly advisory says no specific threats have surfaced but that increased security awareness is “prudent” because ferry operations have minimal security measures in place.
TERRORISTS GROUPS LIKE al-Qaida have long shown interest in maritime targets, the FBI advisory says, citing the successful bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Terrorists might considering broadening their interest to less secure targets, like ferries, which are often located near high-traffic tourist attractions or industrial areas, such as oil facilities.
The FBI emphasizes that it has received no specific threat against a ferry operation. However, ferries make a tempting target, the FBI warns, because they “have the potential to yield a high casualty count.”
Capable of hauling hundreds of people and scores of cars on each trip, ferries on the Seattle-Bremerton route in Washington state alone carried 2.2 million passengers and vehicles last year.
But passengers on such highly traveled routes like Seattle-Bremerton encounter little if any personal security measures before boarding. The ferry industry has no formal security guidelines.
Ferry attacks ‘have the potential to yield a high casualty count.’
— FBI INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY
The lack of security measures in and around ferry operations hit the national stage three years ago on the eve of Y2K. On Dec. 27, 1999, a U.S. Customs inspector, during routine questioning of a passenger traveling on a vehicle ferry from Victoria, B.C., to Port Angeles, Wash., discovered an Algerian named Ahmed Ressam had a mini-bomb factory with enough power to bring down an office building stuffed into the truck of his rented Chrysler.
MANDATED SECURITY MEASURES
Officials at the Passenger Vessel Association, an industry trade group, hadn’t yet seen the FBI advisory and couldn’t comment on it specifically. However, the ferry industry has been working on increased security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, PVA Executive Director John Groundwater told MSNBC.com in a previous interview.
Right after Sept. 11, 2001, the PVA circulated security suggestions, Groundwater said, that included common-sense ideas such as locking down the pilothouse and engine room and doing occasional “sweeps” of the ferry. “I would tell you today that, as a result of that work, the passenger vessel industry is safer than it has ever been.”
President Bush has given former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge the job of managing the government's efforts to deter and respond to terrorist attacks. "Homeland security" — protecting Americans on U.S. soil — is a complex mission requiring the coordinated work of dozens of federal, state and local agencies.
TRACKING TERRORIST SUSPECTS
State Department: Screen visa applications, check against list of known terrorists.
CIA: Spy on terrorist suspects abroad.
FBI: Spy on terrorist suspects within the United States.
Immigration and Naturalization Service: Deport foreigners who overstay visas; detain those who pose security risks.
GUARDING INFRASTRUCTURE AND PEOPLE
Air Force: Shoot down hijacked commercial flights aimed at ground targets.
National Guard: Help screen passengers at airports.
Coast Guard: Screen vessels entering U.S. ports, inspect cargo manifests and crew lists.
Agriculture Department: Inspect meat and crops to detect disease outbreaks.
Private sector: Owners of oil and gas pipelines and power facilities provide guards and surveillance.
FIRST RESPONDERS
Emergency medical technicians, hospital ER doctors and nurses: Treat victims of terror attacks.
MAINTAINING ORDER
Police and National Guard: Enforce quarantines, deter looting, evacuate population.
Army units: President can impose martial law and order Army to quell rioting, enforce quarantines.
DIAGNOSING EPIDEMICS
Federal Centers for Disease Control: Deploy response teams to investigate suspicious illnesses;conduct lab tests to identify biological and chemical weapons; maintain stockpile of pharmaceuticals to treat victims.
State public health departments: Investigate suspicious disease clusters.
INVESTIGATING AND PROSECUTING
FBI: Gather evidence for criminal cases.
Justice Department: Prosecute those who aid and abet terrorists.
REBUILDING AND DECONTAMINATING
Federal Emergency Management Agency: Provide grants for temporary housing or emergency repair; mortgage and rental assistance; disaster unemployment assistance.
Environmental Protection Agency: Analyze air, soil and water for the presence of pollutants.
RESTORING FINANCIAL STABILITY
Congress: May provide subsidies for affected sectors of economy, such as insurance industry.
State and federal unemployment funds: May provide jobless benefits beyond 26-week maximum.
The PVA, in working with the Coast Guard, recently submitted a customized security blueprint for various types of passenger vessels, said Peter Lauridsen, PVA’s regulatory affairs consultant. That blueprint is being offered as an alternative to the much stricter guidelines mandated in the recently passed Maritime Transportation Security Act.
The MTSA allows for such alternative plans, Lauridsen said, but they must get Coast Guard approval.
The PVA alternative plan would be “market niche specific,” Groundwater said, “that deals with the different types of vessels that are out there to ensure that the security measures that go in place are reasonable and cost-effective.”
“Our general concern about [the new regulatory guideline] is that it’s so broad that it could cause many of our members some distress from an economic standpoint and also from just an operational standpoint,” Groundwater said, noting that many ferry services, for example, “are mom-and-pop operations.”
http://a799.g.akamai.net/3/799/388/49c4bdbc8bad89/www.msnbc.com/news/1971713.jpg
A Coast Guard officer keeps an eye on a Seattle-based ferry as it takes on passengers and cars.
WASHINGTON, July 31 — The FBI is warning of increased al-Qaida interest in targeting U.S. ferry operations based on several reports of suspicious activity around ferry terminals. The weekly advisory says no specific threats have surfaced but that increased security awareness is “prudent” because ferry operations have minimal security measures in place.
TERRORISTS GROUPS LIKE al-Qaida have long shown interest in maritime targets, the FBI advisory says, citing the successful bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Terrorists might considering broadening their interest to less secure targets, like ferries, which are often located near high-traffic tourist attractions or industrial areas, such as oil facilities.
The FBI emphasizes that it has received no specific threat against a ferry operation. However, ferries make a tempting target, the FBI warns, because they “have the potential to yield a high casualty count.”
Capable of hauling hundreds of people and scores of cars on each trip, ferries on the Seattle-Bremerton route in Washington state alone carried 2.2 million passengers and vehicles last year.
But passengers on such highly traveled routes like Seattle-Bremerton encounter little if any personal security measures before boarding. The ferry industry has no formal security guidelines.
Ferry attacks ‘have the potential to yield a high casualty count.’
— FBI INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY
The lack of security measures in and around ferry operations hit the national stage three years ago on the eve of Y2K. On Dec. 27, 1999, a U.S. Customs inspector, during routine questioning of a passenger traveling on a vehicle ferry from Victoria, B.C., to Port Angeles, Wash., discovered an Algerian named Ahmed Ressam had a mini-bomb factory with enough power to bring down an office building stuffed into the truck of his rented Chrysler.
MANDATED SECURITY MEASURES
Officials at the Passenger Vessel Association, an industry trade group, hadn’t yet seen the FBI advisory and couldn’t comment on it specifically. However, the ferry industry has been working on increased security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, PVA Executive Director John Groundwater told MSNBC.com in a previous interview.
Right after Sept. 11, 2001, the PVA circulated security suggestions, Groundwater said, that included common-sense ideas such as locking down the pilothouse and engine room and doing occasional “sweeps” of the ferry. “I would tell you today that, as a result of that work, the passenger vessel industry is safer than it has ever been.”
President Bush has given former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge the job of managing the government's efforts to deter and respond to terrorist attacks. "Homeland security" — protecting Americans on U.S. soil — is a complex mission requiring the coordinated work of dozens of federal, state and local agencies.
TRACKING TERRORIST SUSPECTS
State Department: Screen visa applications, check against list of known terrorists.
CIA: Spy on terrorist suspects abroad.
FBI: Spy on terrorist suspects within the United States.
Immigration and Naturalization Service: Deport foreigners who overstay visas; detain those who pose security risks.
GUARDING INFRASTRUCTURE AND PEOPLE
Air Force: Shoot down hijacked commercial flights aimed at ground targets.
National Guard: Help screen passengers at airports.
Coast Guard: Screen vessels entering U.S. ports, inspect cargo manifests and crew lists.
Agriculture Department: Inspect meat and crops to detect disease outbreaks.
Private sector: Owners of oil and gas pipelines and power facilities provide guards and surveillance.
FIRST RESPONDERS
Emergency medical technicians, hospital ER doctors and nurses: Treat victims of terror attacks.
MAINTAINING ORDER
Police and National Guard: Enforce quarantines, deter looting, evacuate population.
Army units: President can impose martial law and order Army to quell rioting, enforce quarantines.
DIAGNOSING EPIDEMICS
Federal Centers for Disease Control: Deploy response teams to investigate suspicious illnesses;conduct lab tests to identify biological and chemical weapons; maintain stockpile of pharmaceuticals to treat victims.
State public health departments: Investigate suspicious disease clusters.
INVESTIGATING AND PROSECUTING
FBI: Gather evidence for criminal cases.
Justice Department: Prosecute those who aid and abet terrorists.
REBUILDING AND DECONTAMINATING
Federal Emergency Management Agency: Provide grants for temporary housing or emergency repair; mortgage and rental assistance; disaster unemployment assistance.
Environmental Protection Agency: Analyze air, soil and water for the presence of pollutants.
RESTORING FINANCIAL STABILITY
Congress: May provide subsidies for affected sectors of economy, such as insurance industry.
State and federal unemployment funds: May provide jobless benefits beyond 26-week maximum.
The PVA, in working with the Coast Guard, recently submitted a customized security blueprint for various types of passenger vessels, said Peter Lauridsen, PVA’s regulatory affairs consultant. That blueprint is being offered as an alternative to the much stricter guidelines mandated in the recently passed Maritime Transportation Security Act.
The MTSA allows for such alternative plans, Lauridsen said, but they must get Coast Guard approval.
The PVA alternative plan would be “market niche specific,” Groundwater said, “that deals with the different types of vessels that are out there to ensure that the security measures that go in place are reasonable and cost-effective.”
“Our general concern about [the new regulatory guideline] is that it’s so broad that it could cause many of our members some distress from an economic standpoint and also from just an operational standpoint,” Groundwater said, noting that many ferry services, for example, “are mom-and-pop operations.”