AnalysisMaritime, transportation industries warn of

There is only one group more anxious, and upset, about the consequences of the flare up over the DP World port management deal than moderate, pro-West Arab regimes and companies: maritime shipping and transport companies. Leaders of companies in the two sectors say that legislation now before the U.S. Congress to tighten waterfront security — following what these industries regard as “political hysteria” — could make already inefficient U.S. ports even slower and more congested. Indeed, in the past fortnight, eleven separate pieces of draft legislation have been tabled, with congressmen and senators trying to out-do each other in showing concern for U.S. national security.

The more sweeping pieces of proposed legislation call for every container arriving in the United States to be screened. Another, introduced by Representative Duncan Hunter (R-California), would ban any foreign ownership of critical infrastructure. The proposed measure would force those companies that already own U.S. assets which become classified as critical by DHS to sell, even if they come from a country regarded by the United States as friendly. Another proposal causing particular alarm calls for all boxes to be secured with a mechanical seal. That recommendation, say maritime shipping experts, may well jeopardize the safety of personnel that have to clamber among containers to check the seals. The same experts also say that seals would not make a containers any more secure, as law enforcement agencies know from their attempts to crack down on narcotics trafficking.

-read more in this Lloyd’s List report (sub. req.)