Maritime / Port Security
Our coverage of maritime security and port security includes the new TWIC program, the requirement for a background check for those seeking maritime jobs, efforts by the Coast Guard and commercial shippers to safeguard U.S. ports and the global supply chain, and the relentless quest by state and city governments to garner port security funds.
GSN's reader survey on maritime security issues
December 17th, 2007
GSN recently conducted a survey of our opt-in e-mail subscribers to learn about their views on maritime security and came up with some with some surprising results. On balance it appears that most of the readers who responded to our survey are satisfied with the underlying principles that form the basis of the government’s approach to maritime security. But many of those readers remain skeptical about the actual results that have been achieved thus far from those efforts.
RFI issued for new conveyance security devices
December 17th, 2007
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued technical specifications for what it sees as a "Conveyance Security Device" (CSD) that would be able to detect any intrusion through the rear door of a cargo container while it was being transported along the global supply chain.
TSA procurement envisions 900,000 TWIC cards per year
December 14th, 2007
As the TWIC card enrollment phase arrives at one U.S. seaport after another (Los Angeles/Long Beach were scheduled to begin on December 12, while Peoria and Joliet, IL; Memphis, TN; and Buffalo, NY, are expected to commence later this month), the need for the materials to manufacture the cards themselves continues apace.
DHS poses five technical challenges to small businesses
December 12th, 2007
Small business entrepreneurs: Put on your thinking caps.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program run by the science and technology directorate of DHS is looking for creative ways to…
• identify a deceitful terrorist by seeing if the pupils in his eyes are dilating suspiciously;
• detect chemical, biological or explosive threats with miniature sensors that can communicate data via cell phones or wireless personal devices;
• graphically depict complex, long-term terrorist threats and U.S. vulnerabilities in easy-to-understand and visually appealing ways;
• gather samples of explosives from the exterior of a vehicle in order to detect a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED);
• develop a "smart sensor system" that can acquire and process data from all kinds of imaging, environmental, nuclear, chemical or biological sensors quicker and more intelligently than existing systems.
More...
Are maritime security and operational efficiency mutually exclusive?
December 3rd, 2007
If you listen to Jayson Ahern, the deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as I did last Wednesday during his speech at the Maritime Security Conference in New York City, you see a skilled government official trying to balance two competing sets of interests.
IG skeptical about Alaska Native company’s CBP maintenance contract
November 26th, 2007
Chenega Technology Services Corp. was awarded a sole source small business set-aside contract worth $475 million by Customs and Border Protection to maintain X-ray equipment and metal detectors nationwide because the company is considered an "Alaska Native Corporation," but the award was made inappropriately by CBP and Chenega has not performed enough of the actual work itself.
DHS will test radiation detectors on West Coast
November 20th, 2007
The Department of Homeland Security has selected two West Coast ports to test implementation of a new nuclear detection regime. The program, to be managed by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, will provide maritime radiation detection capabilities for state and local authorities in Washington’s Puget Sound and California’s San Diego areas.
DHS technology advisors to examine IED threat
November 20th, 2007
Improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, will be thrust into the spotlight at an upcoming meeting of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee, slated for December 4 through 6 in Washington, DC.
