Highlights
– SVSS aims to enhance communication and domain awareness on a local level
– Militants likely to apply similar tactics used in previous successful attacks
– Due to the vast size of the US maritime community, strategy lays the framework for a long-term cooperative action to combat terrorism
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has unveiled a new strategy to improve maritime awareness for a potential terrorist attack using small vessels ranging from fishing boats to recreational boats and yachts. The plan, titled the Small Vessel Security Strategy (SVSS), builds upon existing security strategy frameworks and calls for the improved flow of information between small vessel recreational communities and the public and private sector (Source). The SVSS aims to enhance maritime domain awareness on a local level that will enable private boat owners to detect potential suspicious and potentially dangerous activities in the future.
While enforcing the strategy will likely improve maritime domain awareness for the long-term, the overall scope of the program and the size of the small vessel community in the US will present significant challenges for law enforcement agencies and local boaters.
Scope Remains a Concern
The SVSS estimates that roughly 80 million people are involved in recreational boating yearly. Additionally, there are 13 million registered recreational vessels and an estimated four million unregistered recreational vessels in the US. While a majority of vessel operators are law-abiding citizens, monitoring thousands of smaller vessels will likely be a difficult task.
Currently, authorities remain concerned due to the close proximity of small vessels that share marinas and harbors with potential high profile targets including commercial cargo vessels and military warships. Additionally, identifying small vessels will likely be a significant challenge due to a lack of centralized access to vessel registration, uneven requirements for user certification and limited Advance Notice of Arrival (ANOA) requirements for small vessels visiting from abroad.
Past Attacks
According to an April 23, 2008 US intelligence assessment obtained by the Associated Press, small vessels will most likely remain the primary weapon of choice for future maritime attacks. Small vessels are relatively low in cost and extensive skills and experience are not a necessity to operate a small vessel. Additionally, terrorist organizations have committed attacks using small vessels as waterborne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs) and will likely look to replicate the results of these successful tactics in future attacks.
Examples of notable WBIED attacks are provided below:
• August 2005: An al-Qaeda operative responsible for a series of suicide bombings in Istanbul, Turkey was arrested before he was allegedly contemplating steering an explosives-laden yacht into an Israeli cruise ship .
• October 6, 2002: An explosives laden vessel was used in the attack on the French oil tanker “Limburg” off Yemen that killed one and injured four crewmembers .
• October 12, 2000: Two suicide bombers used a small fishing boat and explosives to perpetrate the attack on the USS Cole at the Port of Aden, Yemen that killed 17 sailors .
The SVSS highlights the growing threat of WBIEDs, but also cites terrorist smuggling, weapons smuggling and using small vessels as platforms to launch a standoff attack as additional scenarios that could threaten the homeland.
A growing concern surrounds the potential overlap between from the growing number of pirate incidents worldwide and terrorism. In recent months, Somali pirate gangs with possible links to al-Qaeda have carried out several assaults on passing commercial vessels with rocket-propelled grenades, highlighting the alarming capabilities of militant groups utilizing small vessels to perpetrate attacks.
Looking Ahead
The SVSS stresses the importance of fostering communication and trust with recreational boaters and professional mariners. They can help identify and report suspicious activities within the small vessel community, which will then help government agencies at the federal, state, local and tribal levels verify which of the millions of vessels in US waters carry a high risk to the homeland.
Additionally, DHS has stressed the importance of developing new technologies to aid in risk identification and tracking (Source). Technology will be consistent with applicable privacy laws, but the SVSS highlights several areas that could aid surveillance measures in high-risk areas including:
• Radio frequency identification tags
• Adaptable miniature transponders
• Global Positioning System devices
• Cell phone-based recognition systems
• Maritime radiation detection equipment
An attack at a major US port would likely have serious consequences for the US economy if the port were forced to close for a period of days. For example, a 10-day labor dispute in 2002 at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach cost the national economy at least US$4.7 billion for the first five days. Thus, while significant challenges remain due to the sheer size US recreational boating community, the SVSS will be an important framework to better secure the US maritime environment for emerging terror threats in the long-term.
