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34 • MarineNews • June, 2005 Circle 200 on Reader Service Card Circle 267 on Reader Service Card Marine Towing of Tampa Tampa, FL AVIK WHAT DO THESE NEW TUGS HAVE IN COMMON? Foss Maritime Seattle, WA MARSHALL FOSS Washington Marine Group Vancouver, BC Crowley Marine Services Seattle, WA M A R I T I M E “INNOVATIVE FENDERING SOLUTIONS” Two Manufacturing Facilities www.schuylerrubber.com 16901 Wood-Red Road Woodinville, WA 98072 Phone 800-426-3917 Fax (425) 488-2424 204 Ida Road Broussard, LA 70518 Local Phone (337) 248-1426 Toll Free 866-347-9445 Fax (337) 837-3610 Western Towboat Seattle, WA Providence Steamboat Co. Providence, RI Hawaiian Tug & Barge Honolulu, HI Crowley Maritime Oakland, CA Alcan Gove Northern Territory, Australia BARU SEASPAN VENTURE SEASPAN TEMPEST OCEAN TITAN RAINBOW MIKIOI COASTAL RELIANCEINDEPENDENT By RADM Robert Duncan, USCG, Captain Ron Branch, USCG, Chris Doane and Joe DiRenzo III Since 9-11 all facets of the media have combined to focus national policy mak- ers, in and out of government, along with the general public on the asymmetric ter- rorist threat facing the United States and its global trading partners. Lengthy news- paper articles or Op-ed pieces, documen- taries on television such as The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel, along with talk radio banter have spot- lighted multiple areas of concern. These have included airplanes, tanker trucks, critical infrastructure and the country's bustling seaports such as New York and Los Angles. The maritime nexus in partic- ular has received a lot of attention as over 90 percent of the nation's commerce trav- els by water. "Experts" have looked at ferry security, security around nuclear power plants and ways that the general public can get involved in the national effort. Commentaries on how vessels could be used as weapons, or the latest on container security have migrated from the maritime trade publications to the nation- al media. The vast majority of this cover- age on maritime security has been devot- ed to the coastal ports and terrorist attacks that originate from outside the U.S., but very little has been written about the nation's efforts to secure the Western Rivers, the lifeline of America's heartland. This article provides a synopsis of the multi-agency effort that secures our inland rivers. As the Lead Federal Agency (LFA) for Maritime Homeland Security, the Coast Guard has coordinated a multi-faceted effort using Federal, state and local agen- cies as well as private industry to secure the U.S. maritime domain. The service has adopted an overarching security goal America's Western River: A Unique Security Challenge Each year more than 100,000 barges navigate the Houston ship channel. Here, a crane barge maneuvers near other barges on the Houston ship channel. (USCG photo by PA2 James Dillard) SECURITYTHE YEARBOOK JUNEMN2005 5(33-40).qxd 5/26/2005 10:46 AM Page 34
