Singapore Goes It Alone In Maritime Security Drill

Clad in jet black from helmet to boots, Singapore coast guard commandos dashed up the gangplank. Responding to a simulated report of a terrorist bomb planted on the hulking cargo ship, they proceeded in a half-crouch along the starboard deck, peering through the sights of German-made assault rifles. As sirens on the adjacent wharf wailed, dozens of other uniformed Singaporeans joined the practice on-ship hunt: blue-bereted special operations police, soldiers in green camouflage with a sniffer cocker spaniel and the bomb disposal squad from the navy’s diving unit. This was Singapore’s first effort at a joint response by its security forces to a potential terrorist attack off the world’s second-busiest port. But the exercise, staged one morning last month, also pointed up the limited ability of countries in the region to cooperate in countering the maritime threat. Despite the urging of security experts that the island city-state and its neighbors work together more closely against terror threats in the waters of Southeast Asia, this was exclusively a Singaporean affair. Officials from the United Nations, the U.S. Coast Guard and China’s maritime security agency attended, but only as observers. Full Story