| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard |
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| Press Release | Date: June 29, 2005 Contact: Jolie Shifflet |
Coast Guard Director of Port Security: Maritime Transportation Security Act provided solid framework, but there is more work yet to be done WASHINGTON - Coast Guard Rear Adm. Craig Bone, director of port security, testified on the implementation of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 before the House Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation today. His oral statement, as prepared for delivery, follows. "Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Committee. I am Rear Admiral Craig Bone, Director of Port Security in the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection Directorate. Today, I intend to discuss the Coast Guard’s role to secure our ports and waterways and insure the safe and efficient flow of commerce. The Coast Guard’s overarching security goal is to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S. maritime domain. Doing so requires a risk-based approach to identify and intercept threats, ideally before they reach our shores. We do that by conducting layered, multi-agency security operations nationwide, while strengthening the security posture and reducing the vulnerability of our ports, with particular focus on our nation’s militarily and economically strategic ports. Our nation’s Marine Transportation System spans 26,000 miles of commercially navigable waterways. It accounts for $800 billion of freight trade each year and is used by 78 million recreational boaters. A maritime terrorist attack on this system, with its associated ripple effects through our trade and commerce, could have a devastating impact on our nation’s economy. Protecting this system is a significant challenge for the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard and our other maritime stakeholders. We accomplish this through partnerships with other federal, state and local agencies as well as the maritime industry. Since trade is global and terrorism is global, we knew it was necessary to build a global security regime. Our domestic and international efforts focused on the implementation of MTSA and the International Ship and Port Facility Security, or ISPS, Code. We collaborated with 147 other countries at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to build a new and substantial security code that applies to vessel and port facilities around the world. These international requirements mirror the domestic standards set forth in MTSA. Both the MTSA regulations and the ISPS Code went into effect on July 1st, 2004. To compliment the new security standards, we worked in parallel with the International Standards Organization (ISO) to develop an ISPS Code implementation guide to aid countries working to comply with these standards. I am pleased to report excellent initial success. Approximately only 1 out of every 100 foreign flagged vessels that we inspect in the U. S. require us to take a major port state control action to correct security deficiencies. We seek to obtain transparency of what and who move through the maritime domain with accountability. The IMO and ISO have been key allies in developing requirements and practical standards that lead to consistency, greater compliance and risk reductions. This international approach provides an efficient and effective security regime that can be verified by all our trading partners, not just our own U.S. Coast Guard boardings, examinations, and foreign port visits which we use to verify reported compliance and implementation. Implementation has been a big challenge to all of the stakeholders: involved with the 9,000 US vessels, 3,200 US facilities, and 8,000 foreign vessels that trade in the US. I am pleased to report MTSA compliance rates for both vessels and facilities are near 99% across the board. This was due in large measure to the collaboration and excellent relationship Coast Guard Captains of the Port have at the local level working with the Area Maritime Security Committees. I also note that, as required by MTSA, we have also established an International Port Security Program that works in concert with other federal agencies to identify foreign countries posing a potential security risk to the international marine transportation system. To date, we have visited 27 countries. Two of all 27 countries that we have visited have not properly implemented the ISPS Code (Gabon and Equatorial New Guinea) Five additional countries are currently on our Port Security Advisory list because they have not reported their compliance to the IMO or U.S. Coast Guard. (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Nauru) There are long term challenges ahead. MTSA and the ISPS code provide the framework for our nation’s maritime security, but additional capability and capacity is needed by agencies and industry to ensure we can best protect our maritime interests and respond to threats and terrorist events. To make maritime domain awareness, protection, and response systemic, we have acted on lessons learned, and have identified efforts needed both domestically and internationally. Many of these efforts require extensive interagency and industry coordination. This inventory of projects, which we refer to as America’s Maritime Shield, will improve how we execute the National Maritime Strategy. They represent the next wave of improvements to maritime security. Cargo security is a long term challenge that deserves comment. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the lead role in cargo security and the Coast Guard works to coordinate with our sister agency to align respective agency roles and responsibilities. When cargo is moved on the waterborne leg of the trade route, the Coast Guard has oversight of the cargo’s carriage requirements and the care needed for that cargo while on the vessel and at the port facility. CBP has authority over the cargo contents and container improvements. Using the information provided through the Coast Guard’s 96-hour notice of arrival rule and CBP’s 24-hour cargo loading rule, we can act to control vessels, and thus their cargoes, and prevent unacceptable risks to our ports. With a Coast Guard officer posted at CBP’s National Targeting Center, we have improved agency coordination and our collective ability to quickly take appropriate action when notified of a cargo safety or security problem. Identity security is another vulnerability that we are working to address. Domestically, the Coast Guard is pursuing improvements to mariner credentialing. We are working closely with TSA to implement the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) for U.S. workers and will do everything we can to expedite that process. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I will be pleased to answer any questions at the appropriate time." Read Bone's written statement at: https://www.piersystem.com/external/index.cfm?cid=786&fuseaction=EXTERNAL.docview&documentID=77843. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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