terrorism

The New York Police Department is buying a new 72 foot vessel that will be the largest in the NYPD Harbor Unit.  The vessel has jet propulsion speeds along at 40 knots and carries 25 to 30 officers.  The boat cost $5 million and is being built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding Co.  The vessel is being has bullet proof protection throughout including anti-ballistic protection around the engine, windows, walls and pilot house.  It is designed to respond to water borne improvised explosive device as well as live shooters in the port.  It also has sealed doors and windows and a positive-pressure-protected cabin that could be activated to keep out contaminated air in case of a chemical, biological or radiological attack.  A decontamination unit on board will be able to treat victims of such attacks rescued by the boat’s crew.

Read more: NYPD Hull Raiser

Policymakers have become increasingly concerned in recent years about the possibility of future maritime terrorist attacks. Though the historical occurrence of such attacks has been limited, recognition that maritime vessels and facilities may be particularly vulnerable to terrorism has galvanized concerns. In addition, some plausible maritime attacks could have very significant consequences, in the form of mass casualties, severe property damage, and attendant disruption of commerce. Understanding the nature of maritime terrorism risk requires an investigation of threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences associated with potential attacks, as grounded both by relevant historical data and by intelligence on the capabilities and intentions of known terrorist groups. These risks also provide the context for understanding government institutions that will respond to future attacks, and particularly so with regard to the U.S. civil justice system. In principle, civil liability operates to redistribute the harms associated with legally redressable claims, so that related costs are borne by the parties responsible for having caused them. In connection with maritime terrorism, civil liability creates the prospect that independent commercial defendants will be held responsible for damages caused by terrorist attacks. This book explores risks and U.S. civil liability rules as they may apply in the context of these types of attacks.

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This thesis examines the history and current trends of international maritime terrorism to show that terrorists may soon determine that small boat attacks may be the most cost-effective and successful terrorism strategy. This review determined that increasingly successful worldwide piracy attacks and the effective use of detection-evading drug vessels, may increase the risk of a terrorist attack in United States’ waters. These reviews and lessons learned from other nations’ successful responses to the maritime threat, in coordination with the goals outlined in the DHS Small Vessel Security Strategy, led to this author’s recommendations that:

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If the democratic surge in Egypt causes Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood to join the government, the toughest counterterrorism challenge ahead may come as U.S. officials are forced to work with this new government, seeking common ground against terrorist enemies even if the Islamic faction tries to distance Egypt from its neighbor, Israel; American political leaders have long fused counterterror aims with support for Israel, but even those Arabs — let alone more religious Islamist organizations such as the Brotherhood — who oppose al Qaeda and jihadism, insist on the distinction between terrorism, on the one hand, and what they consider as a legitimate resistance to continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands; contending with an altered Arab world landscape with rising Islamic factions could thus force hard choices on the United States.

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Author: Khalid R. Al-Rodhan

Source: www.csis.org

Excerpt Below

There are no “bullet proof” security systems for energy facilities. Perhaps the weakest link in the Kingdom’s energy infrastructure is its estimated 11,092 miles of pipeline. It is impossible to protect all of this area, but as noted earlier, short of a large attack that damages these pipelines at multiple points, the resulting damage can be repaired relatively quickly. In addition, the building of redundant facilities may not be economically viable in the short-run, but given this asymmetric threat, it adds one layer of indirect security to vital energy structures.

Incidents like the attack on Abqaiq will happen, and the global energy market will react accordingly. The challenge for the Kingdom and all energy producing nations is to limit the physical damage to the facilities and the psychological impact on the global energy market. With the tightness of the current energy market and world energy consumption estimated to increase by more than 50% by 2025, the security of Saudi energy exports will play an increasingly more central role in the world’s economy.

The geostrategic and security risks facing the global energy market are all too clear. Stability in petroleum exporting regions is tenuous at best. Algeria, Iran, and Iraq all present immediate security problems, but recent experience has shown that exporting countries in Africa, the Caspian Sea, and South America are no more stable than their counterparts in Middle East. There has been pipeline sabotage in Nigeria, political posturing in Venezuela, alleged corruption in Russia, and civil unrest in Uzbekistan and other former Soviet Union countries.

Finally, energy security must also be understood in a broader context. In the near future, energy supply and transportation routes may be challenged by transnational terrorism and proliferation. It is equally possible that recent surges in the demand for oil, supply disruptions by hurricanes, the US refining capacity bottleneck, and the limited spare production capacity will continue to test the energy market in the mid to long-term.

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Hazardous Seas

Maritime Sector Vulnerable to Devastating Terrorist Attacks

by JINSA Editorial Assistant Jonathan Howland

The recent attacks on the USS Cole (DDG-67) and the French supertanker MV Limburg offer a stark illustration of terrorist interest in maritime targets. U.S. intelligence officials have identified between 12 and 300 ships possibly owned and/or operated by al Qaeda. Upon his capture, the alleged al Qaeda mastermind behind the USS Cole attack, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein Abda Al-Nasheri, reportedly confessed to planning future attacks against U.S. and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence agencies have described an increase in terrorist “chatter” regarding ships, port facilities, bridges, and SCUBA diving, reported Globalsecurity.org,

In its October 2003 terrorism report, London-based security consultants Aegis Defence Service (ADS) warned of the growing threat posed by the partnership between maritime piracy and marine terrorism.

If an explicit alliance between piracy and terrorism exists, as ADS and other intelligence officials believe, then the hijacking of merchant vessels at sea suddenly presents a daunting and multi-layered threat to global security and trade well beyond the “simple” threat of merchant piracy.

The nexus between piracy and terrorism affords terrorist groups a lucrative cash flow, access to deadly cargoes, and a means to launch spectacular attacks with the potential to wreak havoc on the global economy.

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By Capt. Steve Alvarez, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – Three years ago, U.S. Navy SEALs secured the Basra and Khwar Al Amaya oil terminals and started maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf. Today, the U.S. Navy and its coalition partners continue operations there and have expanded the range of the maritime mission, but continue to support operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

“Maritime security operations in the North Arabian Gulf support OIF by protecting two critical Iraqi infrastructure nodes, which represent a significant portion of Iraq’s economy,” Navy Rear Adm. John W. Miller said. “By helping to protect the two offshore oil terminals and working to provide security and stability in the maritime environment, U.S., Iraqi and coalition forces are helping to set the conditions that will provide the Iraqi people the best opportunity for self-determination,” he said . . .

But that security has come with sacrifice. On April 24, 2004, terrorists attacked an Iraqi oil terminal in the Persian Gulf just offshore of Iraq’s port of Umm Qasr. Using three “dhows” — vessels unique to the Middle East — full of explosives, terrorists detonated their floating bombs as coalition forces intercepted them, officials said from Bahrain. It was the first attack against oil infrastructure since Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun on March 19, 2003.

The attacks were similar to the Oct. 12, 2000, USS Cole al Qaeda-led bombing in Yemen, where 17 U.S. sailors died. Iraqi and U.S. personnel on the terminals and on ships and small boats near the terminals successfully thwarted the 2004 attacks, but two U.S. sailors and one U.S. Coast Guardsman were killed, officials said.

“We do not want to overstate the threat at sea, but it is still there,” Miller said. “We can never afford to be complacent. Our forces never know for certain what they will face during each boarding. … The enemy continuously look for opportunities, so we must continue to make it difficult for them to achieve success.”

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Gunmen using speedboats have clashed with Nigerian soldiers as they attacked an oil platform operated by Shell in the Niger Delta.

A Shell spokesman said five workers were injured in the attack on the Benisede oil station in Bayelsa state.

There are unconfirmed reports that some soldiers defending the platform and gunmen died in the attack.

On Wednesday gunmen kidnapped four foreign workers from another Shell oil rig in the Niger delta region.

The hostages, who are still being held, come from the UK, the US, Honduras and Bulgaria, a Shell spokeswoman said.

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Shell considers more Nigeria evacuations

LAGOS, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is considering evacuating all its workers from swamp areas in the western side of Nigeria’s delta where militants have staged four attacks in five days, a senior industry source said on Sunday.

The impact of such a move on Shell’s 380,000 barrel-a-day oil output from the Warri region was unclear, the source added, because evacuation does not always mean halting production.

About three-quarters of the Warri region’s output is from the swamps, he said, where militants gain easy access to production platforms by boat.

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Solution

Royal Dutch/Shell should consider implementing Wave Dispersion Technologies, Inc’s WhisprWave® Small Craft Intrusion Barrier™ (SCIB™) to limit access to their oil platforms across the globe.

I just read this article on the “Power and Interest News Report,” which I found to be extremely well written, researched and though out. In light of Wave Dispersion Technologies, Inc.’s floating security barrier solutions, I found this particular excerpt to be most insteresting:

In order to prevent a large-scale terror attack on a maritime target, measures must continue to be implemented in the maritime domain, particularly in the areas of target-hardening and situation-awareness development. This necessitates a deepening of cooperation between those states concerned. Solutions must be tailored which take into account issues such as differing resources, national priorities and concerns over the erosion of sovereignty.

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Tensions escalate after apparent suicide attack on vessel

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) — A nearly 4-year-old cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels is coming under pressure after at least 13 sailors were killed when an explosives-laden boat rammed into a Sri Lankan navy vessel early Saturday.

The 24-foot navy vessel sank shortly after the explosion, which happened shortly after midnight. All 15 sailors on board were initially presumed dead, but fisherman found two survivors clinging to wreckage shortly after sunrise Saturday morning.

The incident took place off the northeastern port city of Trincomalee, five days after five students were killed by the Sri Lankan military. Shops, banks and government offices have been closed to protest those killings.

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