More stories
Click the “smart” buttons
below to explore the targets
Where the United States
stands in protecting its citizens
stands in protecting its citizens
An interactive presentation
Stories by John Yaukey, Gannett News
Service
Shipping and ports
The trailer-sized metal containers stacked
on cargo ships are routinely used for smuggling drugs.
Authorities fear terrorists could exploit shipping to move
weapons. Last October, a suspected al-Qaida terrorist was
caught living in a container ultimately bound for Canada.
The sheer volume of container shipping and
the interconnectedness of global shipping networks make
security especially vexing. On any day, 15 million containers
are en route to ports around the globe — accounting for
90 percent of the world's traded cargo by value. About 9
million containers arrive in U.S. ports every year, only about
2 percent of which are inspected.
The Bush administration has proposed
increasing that slightly, but inspecting significant amounts of
container-shipped cargo would cripple the system with costs.
What's more, shipping containers are often loaded onto trucks
and trains worldwide, so regulating them start to finish would
require an impossible network of agreements and international
laws.
A terrorist attack — detonation of a
large conventional bomb or a nuclear device aboard a cargo ship
at sea or in port — could create economic havoc. If
terrorists obtain a nuclear device, a shipping container would
be one of the easiest ways to smuggle it into the country.
RED FLAG
A typical cargo container can change hands
as many as 25 times — from point of origin to cargo
brokers and truckers — before it reaches its final
destination, providing ample opportunity for a terrorist to
gain access.
Interactive documentary:
CLEARING THE SKIES
CLEARING THE SKIES
Interactive documentary:
A YEAR OF RECOVERY
All contents copyright 2002,
Gannett News Service
E-mail us your comments about this special
report, and be sure to tell us where you saw it on the Web.