DHS officials: Ports to remain open under most post-attack plans
The U.S. government does not intend to react to a domestic terrorist attack on a port or intermodal trade lane with a knee-jerk national quarantine of all ocean-borne commerce that could cripple the economy, Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard officials stressed Thursday.
Most shippers and carriers think the uncertainty about the source of an attack will lead the government, under pressure to make sure a bomb or other type of weapon isn’t being smuggled in other containers, to close ports until law enforcement authorities can determine if the incident was isolated.
But DHS officials said they are leaning in the opposite direction.
“We don’t intend to shut down the ports in a blanket fashion unless under the most dire scenario,” Rear Adm. Larry Hereth, the Coast Guard’s director of port security told the inaugural meeting of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC). The new federal advisory committee of 20 industry experts is modeled on the 18-year-old Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) that provides guidance on trade and cargo security issues to DHS and Customs and Border Protection.
“A bomb in a container shouldn’t be a reason to dramatically shut down maritime commerce throughout the country,” Hereth assured the trade industry representatives.
“Our operating assumption won’t be we close or don’t close,” said James Patton, senior policy advisor for cargo and trade in the Border and Transportation Security directorate. “We don’t assume everything has to stop or nothing stops.”
The assurances about the government’s post-attack response came in the context of a DHS proposal to coordinate the work of COAC and NMSAC on contingency plans. Patton said contingency planning posed the greatest potential for overlap between the two advisory bodies that could lead to different policy recommendations as the department grapples with figuring out how to restart trade lanes in the event of an attack on the global trading system.
Developing a contingency plan for how to keep commerce flowing is a top priority of COAC, which is considering a subcommittee to help DHS develop a contingency policy for transportation and trade.
Patton said DHS would like NMSAC and COAC to form a joint contingency planning subcommittee. COAC, which tends to focus on the actual cargo in the container, recognizes the need for input from vessel operators and others strictly focused on waterfront issues. DHS selected Chris Koch, president of the World Shipping Council, to participate on COAC and NMSAC to ensure there's a bridge between the two groups, Patton said.
Hereth said the Coast Guard’s highest threat level, MarSec 3, includes a set of protocols for tightening vessel and facility security while allowing port operations to continue. The sea service is also developing an options matrix for a national response in the event a port is attacked or a terrorist bomb goes off in a container. The agency has planned out responses to about 30 scenarios so far, he said. The Coast Guard has mechanisms and communications capabilities to tailor guidance to each port and control the actions of field commanders, Hereth said.