Congress Pursues New Strategies for Port Security

WASHINGTON — Maritime experts told a congressional panel Friday that the March 26 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge served as an example of potentially devastating risks confronting U.S. ports.

The collapse after collision with a cargo ship temporarily shut down the nation’s ninth largest port and biggest maritime transfer point for U.S. automobiles.

The insurance industry is predicting direct losses of $2 billion to $4 billion but perhaps larger damage to the U.S. economy.

Greater harm could be inflicted through cyber attacks or terrorist strikes, according to government and private industry maritime officials.

“Our increasing use of automation is increasing vulnerability,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John C. Vann.

Vann, commander of the Coast Guard’s Cyber Command, testified during a joint hearing of two House transportation subcommittees at the Port of Miami.

The automation he discussed controls ship to shore operations, such as heavy crane lifts, management of ground transportation and terminal towers that serve as the brains of port functions.

Automated systems are credited with improving safety and reducing the need for a large workforce.

The result can be expense reductions of 25% to 55% and productivity increases as high as 35%, according to a 2018 report from the business consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Another result could be that “cyberintrusions and attacks have a devastating effect on critical infrastructure,” Vann said.

Congress tried to address port security risks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by passing the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.

It requires vessels and port facilities to assess their vulnerabilities and to develop security plans. The plans cover screening of port workers and cruise ship passengers, installation of surveillance equipment, security patrols and other measures.

In 2021, the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law added another $2.5 billion for ports, part of which went for security.

The question at the hearing in Miami was whether the federal efforts so far are enough to confront new threat scenarios.

As technologies improve, the “evolving challenge” requires new approaches, said Rear Admiral Wayne Arguin, who oversees Coast Guard prevention policies.

“Work is far from done,” he said.

Congress gave the Coast Guard $13.82 billion for its annual budget last year, which also covered port security.

“For the Coast Guard to meet its current and future demands, we need to be at a $20 billion organization by 2033,” Arguin said.

Part of lawmakers’ concern was focused on ship-to-shore cranes manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited, a Chinese state-owned engineering company. Its cranes account for about 75% of the world-market share for container cranes, many of them in the United States.

In 2021, FBI agents reported they discovered intelligence-gathering equipment on a cargo ship delivering ZPMC cranes to the Port of Baltimore. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. congressional investigators identified a communications device in ZPMC cranes not part of normal operations.

The Coast Guard is overseeing a program to replace ZPMC cranes at U.S. ports.

“We want to be able to give you the funds in order to do the job,” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Ky., told the Coast Guard representatives about port security.

You can reach us at [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Twitter