Cruise Missiles – protecting cruise ships from terrorism

18 Apr 2011

Following 11 September 2001, the US government assembled a team of intelligence and maritime industry experts to identify what might be the most likely terrorist target in the maritime world. A consensus was reached that cruise ships, more than cargo ships, tankers or ferries, were likely to be the most attractive target to terrorists. Furthermore, cruise ships often sail to remote ports that specialise in cargo rather than passenger operations and in developing countries where security is not the same as at Western ports.

Subsequent re-evaluation of the threat by law enforcement and intelligence agencies has led to a different conclusion: cruise ships are less attractive to terrorists than originally thought and are better protected than any other ships, with the exception of warships. Following the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, in 1985, by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which resulted in the death of Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old American Jewish man, the International Maritime Organisation adopted regulations to prevent unlawful acts from threatening the safety of ships, their passengers and crew. Cruise ship operators began operating under these resolutions which included requirements for the development of a security plan, the implementation of appropriate security measures, the performance of risk-based security surveys or assessments and training to enhance security awareness.  All cruise liners carry security officers as part of their crew; many, but not all, are armed. Terrorist attacks on cruise ships, although extremely rare before, have not occurred since the Achille Lauro.

The US Coast Guard conducted 1,900 investigations of cruise ship facilities from 2006 to 2009 and found 347 security deficiencies. The report did not disclose how serious they were but most were corrected at the time of the inspection. During this period, the Coast Guard conducted more than 1,500 inspections of foreign-flag cruise vessels. It found 18 security-related deficiencies. “Federal officials and cruise ship operators we interviewed reported that cruise lines implemented security measures beyond what is required of them,” the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported. Furthermore, the US military’s National Maritime Intelligence Centre (NMIC) in January 2010 found no credible terrorist threat to cruise ships existed in 2009. But does that mean there is no real threat at all? MORE ONLINE

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