PORTS VERY VULNERABLE, EXPERTS SAY

WASHINGTON -- Poor security leaves U.S. seaports vulnerable to drug
smuggling, illegal immigration, cargo theft and even terrorist
attacks on cruise ships, federal experts said Tuesday.

"A successful terrorist attack on any one of these ships could result
in a catastrophic number of casualties and threaten the economic
viability of the entire industry," said U.S. Coast Guard Commandant
James M. Loy at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee hearing.

Just last week, Coast Guard units in Miami and the FBI were forced to
respond to a bomb threat against a cruise ship capable of carrying
4,000 people, he said. "Recent history shows us that, throughout the
world, terrorists target transportation," Loy said. Adding to the
concern is the fact that new, larger classes of cruise ships can
carry more than 5,000 passengers and crew members.

Senate Commerce Chairman Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) and Sen. Bob
Graham (D-Fla.) want Congress to increase funding for such equipment
as high-tech cargo container scanners and to improve coordination
between federal and local agencies.

The legislation introduced Friday would be paid for by extending a
shipping tax that is scheduled to expire in 2002. It would
reauthorize the tax through 2006 and specify that the revenue--from
$55 million to $57 million per year--would be spent on port security
measures.

The bill specifies that $68 million would go to the U.S. Customs
Service for new screening equipment, and $80 million to the U.S.
Department of Transportation to provide loan guarantees and grants
locally for improvements such as better fencing or surveillance.

There are no federal standards for security at U.S. seaports and no
federal funding for security infrastructure, according to Hollings.
Meanwhile, the ports handle 95% of the nation's international cargo,
more than 134 million ferryboat passengers and more than 5 million
cruise ship passengers per year.

Basil Maher of Jersey City, N.J., a container terminal operator who
testified on behalf of two industry groups, the National Assn. of
Waterfront Employers and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, said any new
port security program should not require fees or taxes or force
private companies to take on law enforcement obligations.

The senators' bill would implement recommendations made last year by
a federal commission on port security and crime.

The commission said that less than 2% of the cargo now coming into
the nation's seaports is inspected and that cargo theft costs the
nation $12 billion per year.