Tighter security anchors Port Canaveral

sailingrose · April 1, 2008

From the Orlando Sentinel:

If you're cruising out of Port Canaveral, you might face additional security screening under a program announced by the Transportation Security Agency on Sunday.

Then again, you might not. A team of security specialists from various federal and local agencies will be randomly deployed at the port to screen passengers and their bags, said Lee Kair, the federal security director for TSA at Orlando International Airport.

"One day we might have on-site an expert on fraudulent documents and another expert on behavior," Kair said. "The next, we might have none or we might have 10 other experts. The idea is to keep things random and unpredictable."

Port Canaveral is only the second port in the state to get the beefed-up TSA security. The Port of Jacksonville was the first. TSA officials did not say how many days each month Port Canaveral, the second-busiest in the state for cruise-ship passengers, would have the added security.

Some of the experts will be visible, while others will work undercover. "You want part of the team to be visible as a deterrent factor, but we will have people working behind the scenes as well," Kair said.

There is no dollar figure attached to the new program because the TSA will use existing resources, Kair said.

The team of experts at the port on Sunday included members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Air Marshals, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. TSA created the "visible intermodal prevention" teams after the 2004 Madrid train bombings to enhance security on rail and other mass-transit systems. It was recently extended to cover waterways.

Most cruise-ship passengers at Port Canaveral on Sunday welcomed the added security, which included bomb-sniffing dogs and plenty of uniformed officers from various agencies circulating at the check-in areas.

"It makes sense that ports be given the same level of attention as airports," said Raymond Bach of Atlanta. "I think you're actually more vulnerable to an attack in a ship that is out in the middle of the ocean for days than in a two-hour plane ride. If a bad guy gets in, they'll have quite a bit of time to carry out their plan," he said.

Other passengers said they were surprised it had taken this long to roll out this security plan in the ports. "Wasn't that what was supposed to happen after September 11?" said Leigh Jordan, a Tallahassee resident. "I thought all of these agencies were supposed to be collaborating and sharing resources. Well, I'm glad they're finally here."

A statement issued by the agency said there is no new intelligence suggesting a specific terrorist attack at this time. The deployment of security teams to U.S. ports is designed to enhance "security networks."

TSA is the lead passenger- and bags-screening agency in the nation's airports but acts only as "a support agency" in ports, said Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman with the agency.

Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International all sail out of Port Canaveral. The port generates more than 35,000 jobs in Central Florida and $80 million in regional taxes.