BOATERS CAN AID HOMELAND SECURITY
Fred Dyson – Dyson's Starboard View – Messing About in Boats
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Terrorism experts believe that Alaska's oil terminals and tankers and
cruise ships could very well be attractive targets for today's terrorists.
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The U.S. Coast Guard has been given the responsibility of security against terrorism for ports and shipping. The Coast Guard has wisely turned to our nation's boating population for help. America's Waterway Watch is a national program that asks those who work, live or recreate on or near the water to be aware of suspicious activity that might indicate threats to our country's homeland security.
Alaskans are urged to adopt a heightened sensitivity toward unusual events or individuals they may encounter in or around ports, docks, marinas, riversides, beaches or at sea. Terrorism experts believe that Alaska's oil terminals and tankers and cruise ships could very well be attractive targets for today's terrorists. The terrorists want to do maximum damage with maximum publicity. Our harbors and ships are vulnerable to innocent-looking boats loaded with explosives, like those used in the attack on the USS Cole and the French tanker Limburg near Yemen, or pirate attacks on cruise ships like the Achille Lauro in the eastern Mediterranean.
When we are around the waterfront or out in our boats near terminals, tankers, or cruise ships, the Coast Guard wants us to watch for:
• People engaged in surveillance, taking notes or pictures, asking questions
• People who don't belong near critical maritime facilities
• Strange items being placed in the water or being recovered
• Unattended vehicles or boats in strange places
• Lights flashing between vessels
• Unusual diving activity
• Unusual people or numbers of people aboard a boat
• Strange night operations
• Boats in an unusual passage or anchorage
• Transfers of people or objects at unusual places
• Persons attempting to obtain bare boat rentals and paying with cash for short-term, undefined uses
• Small planes flying over critical areas or passages
To report suspicious activities, the Coast Guard wants you to first call 800-424-8802 nationally and also call 907-463-2000 in Alaska. If there is immediate danger to life or property, dial 911. In Alaska waters, most of us are out of phone range, but you can always reach the Coast Guard on Channel 16 VHF. If you are witnessing bad guys doing bad things, you might want to cruise out of sight before you use the radio to report. The bad guy may be monitoring Channel 16 as well and take exception to your ratting him out. Use your best judgment to determine when you should make notification of the situation you are observing; but remember, the sooner you make notification, the sooner law enforcement can respond. Today's Coast Guard is on a wartime footing and has developed a robust response capability.
Last fall I heard an observant boat operator call the Coast Guard about a vessel drifting at the top of Culross Passage in Prince William Sound with five men aboard who appeared to be from the Middle East. I knew a cruise ship was due in nearby Wells Passage in a few hours, so I followed with some interest. The Coast Guard must have known as well, because the reported vessel was tied next to a troopers patrol boat the next morning in Whittier.
Years ago, when I was operating a marine research vessel in the south portion of the Bering Sea, I saw a vessel on my radar screen that was stopping at regular intervals a few miles west of me. It was strange nighttime behavior. The next morning I heard some crab boats chattering on the radio about crab pot pirates. I told them what I had seen on my screen on the midnight watch. I later learned that they had used my information to help figure out which vessel was the pirate and had the U.S. Marshals arrest them in Kodiak. Experienced water men will have a unique sense for what is out of place. Keep a good watch.
Our country needs you.
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