U.S. gains authority to search Panamanian ships for weapons

U.S. gains authority to search Panamanian ships for weapons

   U.S. authorities will be able to board Panamanian-flag vessels in international waters and search for weapons of mass destruction or component parts under an agreement signed Wednesday.

   The ship boarding agreement with Panama is an outgrowth of the Proliferation Security Initiative, an effort launched one year ago by the Bush administration to engage other countries in intelligence sharing and joint law enforcement actions to prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems between states and terrorist groups.

   More than 15 countries are informal partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative. The partnership is designed to give participating countries a way to take rapid action to inspect suspicious ships at sea. Participating countries take part in joint exercises, practicing how to interdict ships and planes carrying suspicious cargo.

   The agreement sets up procedures spelling out when and how U.S. security forces can board, search and possibly detain the vessel and its cargo. The agreement technically gives the Panamanian government the same right to board U.S. ships.

   If a U.S.- or Panamanian-flag vessel is suspected of carrying a biological, chemical or nuclear shipment or missiles, each country can request the other to confirm the nationality of the ship and authorize its boarding.

   The accord expands an existing maritime agreement that already allows U.S. Coast Guard officers to board ships of Panamanian registration in search of narcotics, according to the Associated Press.

   The agreement is significant because more vessels are registered in Panama than any other country in the worlds. Of those, about 5,600 are large cargo ships, according to news reports. Liberia, another major ship registry, was the first country to sign a ship boarding agreement back in February.

   The shipboarding agreement 'further bolsters the reputation of the Panamanian ship registry and the confidence of those involved in the shipping trade that Panama is taking all steps necessary to ensure its ships are not misused,' said John Bolton, U.S. undersecretary for arms control and international security, in a statement.

   'This agreement sends a clear message to anyone who would traffic in these sort of illegal materials that neither Panama nor the United States will stand for the use of their vessels in this type of activity,' said Arnulfo Escalona, Panama's minister of government and justice.

   Escalona said he hoped other nations in the hemisphere would follow Panama's lead and sign similar agreements to counter the proliferation of illegal weapons.