Maitland deplores “Maginot Line” approach to security

Maitland deplores æMaginot LineÆ approach to security    The United States is taking a dangerous ‘Maginot Line’ stance on port security that could prove to be no defense at all, Clay Maitland, managing partner of International Registries, told a ‘state of the industry’ symposium sponsored by the Connecticut Maritime Association.
   Maitland referred to an elaborate line of defenses prepared in eastern France before World War II that ‘the Germans simply walked around,’ he noted.
   ‘If I were smuggling a weapon of mass destruction into the United States, I would bring it in via a boat on Long Island Sound, using a public landing at a marina to put it on a truck. There are no security measures in place along the Connecticut coast,’ Maitland said. ‘All the attention is on the major ports.’
   Gerhard Kurz, a former shipping executive, said that ‘physical danger is a fact’ for U.S. ports and that an American hard line on port security was not ‘irrational xenophobia.’
   ‘It is better to be vigilant now than sorry afterwards,’ Kurz said.
   The shipping industry, while currently enjoying record profits, is also in danger from shareholder activism, probing financial analysts, and attempts to dismantle international regulations, said Richard du Moulin, a partner in Intrepid Shipping. ‘We need to be prepared for such events and not be overwhelmed by a tidal wave,’ he explained.
   Other speakers cited the miscommunication that characterized the early media frenzy over Dubai Ports World’s attempt to operate terminals in six U.S. ports.
   ‘There was a lack of basic knowledge about maritime functions,’ said Carsten P. Melchiors, secretary general of BIMCO. ‘As an industry, we must develop ways to communicate more effectively,’ he added.
   William A. O’Neil, former head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), deplored ‘the fence that’s being built around the United States.
   ‘If you want free trade, you can’t change the rules under the guise of security when political motives are really in play,’ O’Neil told attendees at the CMA conference in Stamford, Conn.
   ‘In terms of trade and much else, you can’t change one part of the system and not have the rest of it change as well,’ said Stephen A. Van Dyck, chairman of INTERTANKO.
   In regard to pollution at sea, Van Dyck cited the cover of a recent publication from his organization showing children playing on a beach. ‘They think the ocean belongs to them,’ he said. ‘We need to be respectful of that wish. A bare-minimum compliance’ with international pollution prevention rules ‘is not enough,’ Van Dyck said.