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Office of Public Affairs | |
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| Press Release |
Date: Aug. 24, 2006 |
Coast Guard and Nikiski Area Maritime Security Committee conduct maritime security exercise | |
| ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Coast Guard and the Nikiski Area Maritime Security Committee conducted a tabletop exercise of the Nikiski Area Maritime Security Plan on August 23 in Soldotna. The drill was held at the Kenai River Center. The drill simulated a credible threat of a transportation security incident from a maritime source against the Nikiski industrial complex. Participants were faced with tasks like changing MARSEC levels and implementing the procedures that go along with those changes. They established security zones and enforced them. The team also had to adapt to changing intelligence and decide how to best protect the port against the threat of terrorism. The drill was designed to meet the Maritime Transportation Security Act requirements by exercising the plan to examine the Coast Guard and local entities capabilities, allow all partners to understand and test their roles in the plan, identify strengths and weaknesses and practice command and control with in an incident command framework. Ultimately when you draw Federal, State and local agencies into one situation there is some confusion about who owns what and how things should go forward to best work as a team to achieve the common goals. Conducting a mock incident allows all players to work through these issues and learn what works best in each maritime area. In the event of a real maritime security incident all responders are better prepared and can work more quickly and effectively to resolve the incident. Previous drills have simulated threats to the Alaska Railroad, cruise ships and the Trans -Alaska Pipeline System either as a result of an industrial accident or an act of terrorism. Major players in the Nikiski incident included but are not limited to: Coast Guard Sector Anchorage Coast Guard Investigative Service Federal Bureau of Investigation Anchorage Kenai Police Department Kenai Fire Department Alaska State Troopers Nikiski Fire Department Kenai Peninsula Borough Tesoro Unocal Agrium Marathon Conoco Phillips Ocean Marine Services Alaska Maritime Agencies Alaska Department of Transportation Alaska Dept. of Homeland Security & Emergency Management The marine areas under U.S. jurisdiction are enormous, covering some 3.5 million square miles of ocean area and 95,000 miles of coastline. Alaska represents nearly 33,000 miles of tidal shoreline and 3,853,500 square miles of water. On these waters, commercial shipping carries more than 95 percent by volume of the U.S. overseas trade that is critical to U.S. economic health. There are 361 public ports in the United States that handle over 95 percent of U.S. overseas trade. The top 50 ports in the United States account for over 90 percent of all the cargo tonnage. Twenty-five U.S. ports account for over 98 percent of all container shipments. Cruise ships visiting foreign destinations embark from at least 16 U.S. ports. Generally, ports are often very open and exposed and are susceptible to large-scale acts of terrorism that could cause catastrophic loss of life and economic disruption. Despite the importance of seaport security, perhaps no other mode of transportation is currently more vulnerable to future attacks than our Nation's Marine Transportation System. To respond to this and other threats all major ports in the U.S. have established Area Maritime Security Committees. These committees generally consist of the U.S. Coast Guard, state agencies, the local port stakeholders and city officials. Their purpose is to develop security plans for the port and surrounding area, organize and follow through with drills and exercise to test these plans. The drills allow the committee to assess strengths and vulnerabilities in the plan and the port and make changes as needed to address current and emerging issues. To date there have been no terrorist actions in Alaska resulting in a Maritime Security Incident. | |
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