Arab port security tightens: as America's "war on terror" grows more elaborate, Washington has compelled Arab ports to adopt new security measures, including inspection of cargo on ships bound for US ports. The silver lining is that it may make those ports more efficient, competitive and secure.

IN THE PAST, along international trade routes, Arab ports have been notorious for lax security standards. Smuggling has been tolerated as a necessary evil, sustaining a significant number of legitimate port activities. But in the near future that may change dramatically, due to recent American regulatory actions, and heightened local awareness of the need to strengthen security at port facilities.

The American pressure has come in the form of a series of trade and shipping initiatives, requiring embarkation ports for US-bound freight to maintain much more complete freight documentation and security standards. These efforts include the Container Security Initiative (CSI), the Secure Freight programme (SF), and the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)--all put forward within the past 12 months.

Although only a handful of Middle East ports are specifically included in those global initiatives, they have had a pronounced ripple effect, because they set safety standards which in effect give participating ports a security rating that merchants and shippers welcome.

"From a freight container security perspective, there are only a handful of ports worth considering," says Dan Purtell, president of the Supply Chain Security Services Division of First Advantage, a major international agency, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, which rates routing options and monitors cargo losses for shippers, insurers and other interested parties. "No port is perfect," Purtell adds. "They all have elements of risk."

Under the Container Security Initiative, launched in September 2006, freight containers (which represent the most common form in which manufactured goods are transported) are subjected to rigorous inspection and documentation. There are 30 ports which subscribe to CSI regulations, including Dubai in the UAE, and Port Salalah in Oman.

The US Department of Homeland Security followed this with the launch of the Secure Freight partnership, in December, which is presently subscribed to by six ports, including Port Qasim in Pakistan and Port Salalah in Oman.

When the Bush administration announced its "Secure Ports Initiative", also in December 2006, the intention was to extend the front-line of America's war on terror as far outward as possible.

"This initiative advances a comprehensive strategy to secure the global supply chain and cut off any possibility of exploitation by terrorists," says America's homeland security chief, Michael Chertoff.

Ironically, the American security effort comes in the wake of the politically charged reaction to a Bush administration effort to permit DP World, a Dubai-owned port management conglomerate, to manage six American ports. At the time, American legislators forced the president to cancel the agreement. But any resentment over that cancellation has been offset by local concerns that Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups might be able to all-too-easily attack port facilities in the Gulf.

Concerns were heightened last fall when Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka staged an audacious suicide attack on the port of Galle, destroying three naval craft. Two boats carried out rocket-propelled grenades on the harbour while three explosives-laden boats rammed and sank the naval craft.

In the Gulf, military leaders and transport executives are painfully aware that port facilities and luxury real estate complexes lie temptingly open to a similar attack. Thus, American security initiatives come at a time of unusual transition in the Gulf, and are even in some quarters welcome. The US Air Force and Navy have maintained extensive facilities or use agreements at bases in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. But the rapid evolution of global terrorism has demonstrated that battleships and jet fighters alone might not provide timely or practical protection from attack.

Ports in the Gulf are now developing their own elaborate security barriers, to protect ships and facilities from terrorist attack. These barriers range from conventional gun emplacements to high-tech CCTV (closed circuit video) and satellite monitoring systems. Not surprisingly, efforts to beef up port security have been mirrored by growing Arab concern over oil pipeline and terminal vulnerabilities.

Dubai has declared it will create an elaborate web of technologically advanced barriers and detection systems to protect its assets. A civil defence official in the emirate recently declared that Dubai will be the world's safest city by 2010, when a "smart system" project to be established over the next two years will protect 100,000 establishments. The system being put in place depends on an electronic monitoring system on every building that will trigger the fire extinguishers and report accidents, once they happen, via satellites linked to a central civil defence operations room.

So far, 540 buildings, 1,500 houses and 390 flats in two Dubai Marina condominium complexes are wired into the smart system. Ultimately, there will be some 4,600 installations of this kind, in more than 8,000 buildings.

But experts warn that such high-tech barriers might be defeated by low-tech attack. Floating mines and suicide boats are very much a presence to contend with in the Gulf.

To counter the latter, many ports are investing in floating barriers that can be cast around a single ship, an oil platform, or an entire port. One such product is the Small Craft Intrusion Barrier (SCIB), developed by Wave Dispersion, an American company, after the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. When installed, the system resembles a floating fish net; it can stand alone, or be incorporated into a more sophisticated defence by incorporating motion or video sensors in the system itself.

SCIB is currently being incorporated into Dubai's port defence programme.

Multinational security companies are gearing up for what could be a multibillion dollar market. For example, Siemens, the German electronics giant, recently acquired VistaScape Security Systems, an Atlanta-based developer of automated video analytic technology designed to protect critical infrastructure from a broad spectrum of threats. American defence contractors like Northrop Grumman have also been preparing to market preventive barrier systems which can complement their military hardware.

Customers for these security barriers and systems are primarily government agencies, military organisations, or large private enterprises, such as oil companies protecting LNG terminals and refineries.

American security initiatives were put forward even as Arab governments began considering the purchase of such systems. Thus, for those governments, acceding to American wishes fit well with efforts to improve their own security arrangements.

Indeed, all major Arab Gulf ports have begun investing heavily in sophisticated monitoring and detection systems. These include everything from movable port barriers to video surveillance to movement tracking systems.

Under the influence of US initiatives, those same ports are now looking at radiation and explosives detection systems that would scan virtually every freight package entering or leaving the Gulf.

Both Dubai and Oman--the two countries most intimately involved in the American security effort--are willing to make the investment, in the belief such measures will boost the perceived security of their ports, making them more attractive transshipment points. The point is made clear by shipping consultants such as FirstAdvantage's Dan Purtell: "When we're looking at routing options, we pay particular attention to security at transshipment locations," he points out.

Nevertheless, such efforts, inspired by the US initiatives, have also prompted scepticism among some political and trade analysts who say such measures to beef up security and customs inspection functions in overseas ports could ultimately prove to be a waste of funds.

David Hamod, president and CEO of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, points out: odds involved mean such security enhancing efforts may not achieve their stated aims.

"There's no reasonable way to track all containers coming to the US, to ensure that their contents are safe."

But for Arab shippers and port managers participating in the American security initiatives, the measures have had a positive impact, creating what Hamod calls a very desirable "seal of approval".