House lawmakers disturbed by unchecked container seals, empties
Members of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation expressed outrage that some West Coast terminal operators have told dock labor not to bother manually checking container seals and empties for possible breaches of security.
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, D-Calif., urged the subcommittee on June 9 to send a warning letter to port terminals that do not inspect container seals on inbound containers. “They do not have the right to go against the law,” she said, referring to the 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act.
She also suggested that non-compliance with container seal checks should result in punitive actions against the terminal operators by the Coast Guard.
The subcommittee members were also disturbed by testimony from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union about the practice by somne West Coast to not check empties to save on labor costs.
“It’s common knowledge that we don’t inspect empties,” testified Michael Mitre, the ILWU’s director of port security, before the subcommittee. “I believe it’s a national security concern.”
He added in written testimony: “There have been assertions made by industry officials that all West Coast terminal operators are inspecting empty containers. This is simply not true, The ILWU has furnished the Coast Guard with formal letters from both stevedores and terminal operators informing the union that, at certain facilities, empty containers will no longer be inspected.”
Mitre said the recent terrorist attack at Israel’s Ashdod port involving an empty container is convincing enough that empties should be checked once they arrive at the pier.
“Port security equates to worker safety,” he told the subcommittee. “In the event of a terrorist incident, the dockworker is the first one who is going to be killed or injured.”