Economic impact of a nuke attack

The latest plots show that bin Laden was clearly thinking about the economic consequences of his attacks and might even have been planning a devastating oil spill, said Tim Hart, a maritime security analyst at Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants. That means Western security forces might have to take strong action sometime at sea.

Critics say the consequences of delay could be catastrophic. Terrorists have long sought to obtain uranium or plutonium to construct a nuclear bomb, global security analysts say. Government officials, including President Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush, have worried that terrorist cells could be plotting further devastation in the United States, perhaps through radioactive explosives called "dirty bombs."

This successful concealment of container contents, along with potential Al Qaeda control of entire vessels able to carry thousands of shipping containers, is particularly troubling when the total volume of maritime container shipments in need of security screening is considered. "More than 80 percent of the world's trade travels by water and forges a global maritime link. About half the world's trade by value, and 90 percent of the general cargo, are transported in containers. ' 0 Large volumes of trade via container shipments are processed through ports. Those ports also provide economic benefits to the surrounding communities." Thus, threats by terrorists may have several objectives, including human casualties, environmental damage or economic loss and disruption.

The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, brought to the forefront longstanding concerns about the vulnerability of our ports. After Sept. 11, for example, U.S. seaports were closed for several days, an acknowledgment that ships, like airplanes, could also serve as deadly weapons. Coast Guard vessels were immediately dispatched to provide security at all major American ports.[1] Few would dispute that, if terrorists used a cargo container to conceal a weapon of mass destruction and detonated it on arrival at a U.S. port, the impact on global trade and the world economy could be immediate and devastating. Protecting America's ports against a terrorist threat is daunting because of the sheer size and sprawling nature of the U.S. maritime system and because the United States has no central port authority to oversee security. Approximately 8,000 ships with foreign flags make 51,000 calls on U.S. ports each year. Fully 95 percent of overseas commerce (and 100 percent of foreign oil) comes by ship.[2] In addition, more than 6.5 million passengers from cruise ships pass through the nation's ports each year, along with approximately 9 million cargo containers — about 26,000 cargo containers a day.[3] The complex structure of ports and the port authorities that govern them — including the variation in public and private ownership, the involvement of multiple governmental and private agencies, and the differences in levels and scopes of authority — makes securing U.S. ports a tremendously difficult task.

The Department of Homeland Security produced this strategy document. The fore ward states, "Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, maritime security efforts have focused primarily on large commercial vessels, cargoes, and crew. Efforts to address the small vessel environment have largely been limited to traditional safety and basic law enforcement concerns. Small vessels are, however, readily vulnerable to potential exploitation by terrorists, smugglers of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), narcotics, aliens, and other contraband, and other criminals. Small vessels have also been successfully employed overseas by terrorists to deliver Waterborne Improvised Explosive Devices (WBIEDs). ...Currently, the U.S. Government has an incomplete knowledge of the international recreational boating public, their travel patterns, and the facilities they use. Couple this with the limited information available regarding fishing fleets and the multitude of small commercial vessels operating in or near U.S. waters and the complexity of the issue becomes obvious. Hence, there is a clear need to close security gaps and enhance the small vessel security environment. The Small Vessel Security Strategy (SVSS) addresses these concerns and provides a coherent framework to improve maritime security and safety. It envisions a coordinated effort of Federal, state, local, and Tribal authorities, together with international partners, private industry, and recreational users of the waterways."