Underwater detection and surveillance technology for commercial port and vessel security. Who is going to pay for it?

摘要

Regulatory requirements for surface and subsurface surveillance and detection as a part of requisite Port, Facility and Vessel Security Plans -set forth following the implementation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) "International Ship and Port Facility Security Code" (ISPS), and its U.S. equivalent - "The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002" (MTSA) - are generic and vague in terms of specific goals and objectives Neither MTSA nor ISPS make specific mention of technology requirements or capabilities, or which entities are specifically charged with deployment, operation, and maintenance of such systems installed in any given geographic region. Nevertheless, both the ISPS Code and the MTSA 2002 REQUIRE implementation of provisions for monitoring and surveillance tied to approved facility and vessel security plans. These requirements leave undefined any specific provisions that a port, facility or vessel owner/operator must apply to ensure that all security goals are met. As a result, the means and methods of identifying and mitigating potential waterside threats are being unevenly applied throughout the maritime community, with some port authorities and individual facilities purchasing and installing expensive and sophisticated surveillance and detection systems, while others are doing nothing more than traditional "watch standing". Such disparate interpretation of need and requirement, abetted by regulatory "approval" of security plans that incorporate and validate this diversity of capability and response, has created an environment of uncertainty and complacency where uneven standards of operational maritime security prevail.