Expert: Ports Should Bolster Waterside Security

Expert: Ports Should Bolster Waterside Security

צילום אילוסטרציה (123rf)

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Illustration photo (123rf)
Illustration photo (123rf)

Port security solutions, including software and cameras, have improved significantly in the past decade or so. Many large ports, for instance, have high-tech command centers, which monitor large infrastructures for multiple threats.

According to a report in Government Security News some ports may be neglecting underwater/waterside security, according to Marianne Molchan, senior advisor at the Fort Lauderdale, FL-based global security and risk management advisory firm Security Dynamics.

At a presentation in the Port Security Operations Conference and Expo in Miami, she described how some ports could protect themselves from such risks with improving and more effective security solutions.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

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It was back in 2000 when the USS Cole, harbored in Yemen, was bombed in a suicide attack. But a variety of other threats against ships in port have been uncovered in recent years, she said. According to reports, terrorists have worked to hone their scuba diving and diving skills. Parasitic devices have been attached to ship hulls (though they have mainly been used for drug trafficking, they could be used to attach explosives). Terrorists have also allegedly planned to attack cruise ships. Improving underwater vehicles, including so-called narco-submarines, could also be used to deliver an attack, she said.

But until now, only some very large ports and other entities, including nuclear and other power plants and military installations, which do not always disclose their security measures, have focused on protecting possible underwater and water-facing vulnerabilities.