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CNN Live At Daybreak

Stronger Seaport Security

Aired January 17, 2002 - 05:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Get ready for longer lines at the seaports. We've all seen the increased security measures at the nation's seaports following the September attacks. Authorities are now working on imposing stronger security laws at the nation's seaports.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To diminish the risk of a maritime terrorist incident, the Coast Guard is requesting international action to tighten up security on ships and in ports.

JOSEPH ANGELO, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's having better information about the cargo, the ship and the people that are intending to come and call at the United States.

MESERVE: Among the most controversial proposals being put before the United Nations International Maritime Organization, or IMO, mandatory background checks and verifiable identification documents for seafarers.

ANGELO: What we're really talking about here is some sort of biometrics I.D., biometrics in the form of a fingerprint, a retina scan, a facial scan, something that would assure us that when that person comes ashore and shows us the card, that, in fact, is the person that's on the card.

MESERVE: The Coast Guard is also asking for an international standard for port security plans and a requirement that ports undergo periodic vulnerability assessments. It also wants to require security plans for ships and offshore facilities and security officers on ships and in shipping companies. It wants to accelerate plans to put transponders on ships that would allow tracking of their movements and it urges consideration of other security measures, like stern radar to detect hijackers approaching from the rear, and alarm systems that would notify authorities if there were a hijacking.

The Coast Guard dances around the most problematic maritime security issue, containers. Millions of them are used in shipping. Few of them are opened and examined. The U.S. government has yet to formulate its strategy for dealing with the security risk without bringing trade to a standstill, but it is urging the IMO to consider inspecting them at their port of origin.

(on camera): Whether the Coast Guard's wish list will transform into concrete action is unclear. One Coast Guard representative says the IMO has a history of "watering things down."

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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