Maritime advisory panel to examine ‘certain dangerous cargo’ in public conference call on Nov. 15

Vessel carrying "certain dangerous cargo"

The U.S. Coast Guard has announced that its National Maritime Security Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting, via telephone conference call, on November 15, during which it will discuss various elements of what it calls a new “Certain Dangerous Cargo Security Strategy.” The term “certain dangerous cargo” includes things such as explosives, poisonous materials, oxidizing materials, liquefied gas and a variety of bulk liquids.

The advisory panel will review information and deliberate on recommendations related to the risk of intentional attacks on certain dangerous cargo, steps to assess and mitigate these vulnerabilities, and the development of a national, regional and local capability for resiliency and recovery, following such an attack.

The conference call will take place between 11 AM and 1 PM on November 15, with the period between 12:30 PM and 1 PM set aside for questions from the public.

Members of the public are welcome to listen to this conference call, but the Coast Guard indicated in a notice it published in the Federal Register on Oct. 26 that it has only 100 teleconference lines to accommodate listeners.

Further information is available from Ryan Owens, the alternate designated federal officer, at 202-372-1108 or ryan.f.owens@uscg.mil.

“Certain Dangerous Cargoes (CDCs) have chemical properties (toxicity, flammability, and reactivity) that, if released, have the capability to produce grave consequences,” explains the Coast Guard on its Website. “These cargoes are moved through domestic high density population areas on a daily basis, while concurrently transiting near critical infrastructure and other key resources in U.S. ports.

“Following September 2001, a narrow view regarding the risks associated with CDCs developed among federal, state, and local government officials,” the Coast Guard continues. “As a result, increased scrutiny on the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry began to root. However, risks posed by the broader spectrum of CDCs, many posing a higher risk than LNG, were largely left unaddressed until September 2009. During this time, the Coast Guard and National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) sponsored a Cargo Security Symposium to promote dialogue between stakeholders having equities in the nation’s cargo security process.”