US-led efforts to improve the security of global shipping have illustrated starkly that the maritime industry is “wide open” to the threat from terrorism, experts say. The US State Department issued a new warning on September 26 of “increasing indications that al-Qaeda is preparing to strike US interests abroad” and that these may involve “aircraft and maritime interests”. However, in a wide-ranging report issued this week, the RAND think-tank criticised the lack of focus on shipping security, in part due to the concentration on airline security since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. Full Story