Tampa to get floating barriers
The Port of Tampa is set to authorize a $1.2 million outlay to install floating barriers that would prevent a USS Cole-style terrorist attack on vessels in port waters.
To date, Port Everglades is the only commercial port in the U.S. with floating barriers, which are moved to allow vessels to pass and then closed to block small craft intrusions into a berthing area.
The port has already received a federal grant for small craft intrusion barriers. The port authority will formally authorize the spending for the barriers at the June 20 board meeting.
In 2000, suicide bombers in a small boat loaded with explosives hit the Cole in the Yemeni Port of Aden while it was refueling. Seventeen sailors were killed in the attack, which left a 40-foot gash in the hull.
Tampa to get floating barriers
