The Roles of Port FSO and MTSA 2002 and the Maritime Cyber Terrorism

Port Security: Essay Questions
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Port Security: Essay Questions

Question 1

Security at sea is vital to secure international trade and ensure safe maritime navigations. It entails preparedness and response policies that address the challenges faced by the international maritime community. In the contemporary world, a terrorist or cyber-attack at seas involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield-explosion devices or weapons can devastating impact the local and global economy. The development of the port FSO positions aimed to enhance the security and safety in the maritime environment. Ports, as entry and exit points into a region or territory, play a significant role in society's wellbeing, meaning that serious problems with the facilities are bound to impact the wider community. Therefore, the role of port FSO is to enhance security at the ports. These roles and responsibilities have been captured under several official documents.

The first document is the Maritime Commerce Security Plan for the National Strategy for Maritime Security, established in 2005. This plan highlights the overall goal of port FSO to support the National Strategy for Homeland Security and the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism (DHS, 2005). The plan also works in tandem with the Maritime Transport System Security Plan, which focuses on the security of transport systems, including vessels and ports. The MCSP focuses on the maritime components of the international supply chain, which means the emphasis is on maritime cargo. The threat assessment encompasses information on cargo, the transportation process, and intermodal connections, including the tail ends of the supply chain such as containerization, trucks, and rail transport. The framework for this plan consists of five parts: accurate data, secure cargo, secure vessels and ports, secure transit, and international stands. Within these dimensions, the overall roles of port FSO are defined. The official document also highlights the processes or procedures that port FSOs would typically be involved in, including collecting advanced cargo information, using automated targeting systems, applying non-intrusive inspection equipment, container security initiative, and mega ports initiative. Overall, this document provides the ultimate role of port FSOs within the more comprehensive national security plan and strategy.

The second document is the American constitution on the roles and responsibilities of port FSOs. In this document, current and prospective port FSOs can find the qualifications required for the roles, training in key knowledge areas, and responsibilities (CM, 2022). For instance, in terms of capabilities, the FSO must know, either through training or job experience, key areas like security organization of a facility, vessel & facility operations, vessel and facility security measures, emergency preparedness, contingency planning, etc. operation of security equipment. On the other hand, key responsibilities include facility s...