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50 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News another mission where the two nations have joined to combat a common threat.

Through exercises such as the recently concluded "Ardent Sentry" the two countries are developing and refining plans to respond to terrorism and improve their interoperability. During

Ardent Sentry, Canadian and U.S. agen- cies jointly reacted to scenarios such as a simulated "dirty bomb" (radioactive

IED) explosion in Windsor, Ontario that sits across the river from Detroit.

Additional scenarios included simulated terrorist bombings in Detroit including one which caused a sympathetic explo- sion of railroad cars with chlorine and phosgene gas. Canadian and U.S. law enforcement, defense and emergency response entities worked together to respond to these "attacks" to mitigate the consequences. Cooperation like this can best be described as the ultimate "unity of effort".

So what exactly has been occurring in the world of maritime security between the United States and Canada, especial- ly as the national attention is shifted to the southern border with Mexico?

For starters the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and

Canadian Customs have worked closely together implementing both the

Customs-Trade Partnership Against

Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Container

Security Initiative (CSI). C-TPAT involves shippers who voluntarily implement security standards and work with the CBP to get containers and cargo moved quickly, including those brought through the St. Lawrence Seaway work- ing with Canada Border Services

Agency (CBSA). Canada has also initi- ated a complimentary program called the Customs Self Assessment and

Partners in Protection (CSA/PIP), which is also designed to work supply chain security issues. The two programs are both working extremely well in this joint arena.

CSI is a program designed to place

U.S. CBP officers "in country" to work with host nation officials to identify containers which need further inspec- tion. The program has four specifics goals, according to CBP, including: • Identify high-risk containers. CBP uses automated targeting tools to identi- fy containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism, based on advance infor- mation and strategic intelligence. Prescreen and evaluate containers before they are shipped. Containers are screened as early in the supply chain as possible, generally at the port of depar- ture. Use technology to prescreen high- risk containers to ensure that screening can be done rapidly without slowing down the movement of trade. This tech- nology includes large-scale X-ray and gamma ray machines and radiation detection devices. Use smarter, more secure contain- ers, which will allow CBP officers at

United States ports of arrival to identify containers that have been tampered with during transit."

CBP uses automated targeting tools in support of CSI to identify containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism based on advance information and strategic intelligence. Currently three ports within Canada are participants in

CSI including Montreal, Vancouver &

Halifax, Canada.

In addition to the CSA/PIP program and participation in C-TPAT and CSI, on

April 22, 2005 Canada announced a $300-million, five-year series of initia- tive packages to further enhance the security of Canada's marine transporta- tion system and maritime borders. The program requires interoperability with the United States on all common borders “A great opportunity for networking.”

Gianni Onorato, President, Costa Crociere “Royal Caribbean is growing in Naples.

Join us at Seatrade Med and find out why.”

John Tercek, VP Commercial Development,

Royal Caribbean Cruises

Organised in association with

Supported by

Provincia di Napoli