U.S., CANADA DEVELOP ANTITERRORISM PROGRAM FOR ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY

U.S., CANADA DEVELOP ANTITERRORISM PROGRAM FOR ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY    The U.S. and Canadian governments have jointly developed a program to share intelligence and increase security boardings on foreign commercial ships that enter the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes.
   The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. said more than 200 joint vessel inspections have been completed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
'    “The threat is real; every ship that transits these waters passes critical infrastructure and large populated areas,” the authorities said in a joint statement.
   All ships entering the Seaway must provide the authorities with a 96-hour advance notice of arrival. “Ships failing to give notice, or those whose notice is incomplete, will be prohibited from entering the seaway,” the authorities said.
   The U.S. Coast Guard and Canada Customs and Revenue Agency special analysis units conduct the initial screening of the ships’ information.
   “If a potential threat were identified, the ship would undergo a security boarding by a team of personnel from Canadian agencies before it enters the seaway and the Great Lakes,” the authorities said. “These boardings are in addition to random boardings and other security measures already in place.”
   Other government agencies involved in the antiterrorism effort are Transport Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, U.S. Customs, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the U.S. Consul General’s Office in Montreal.