Confronting terror on the seas

While the links between piracy and terrorism have been questioned lately, the anniversary of 9/11 is an appropriate day to examine the ongoing issue.

It’s important to recognize that beyond the immediate threat to vessels and crews, the beneficial cargo owner is also victimized by acts of violence on the high seas.

A transit through the Gulf of Aden, for example, now requires expensive new insurance policies and?premiums. The option of moving freight around the Cape of Good Hope loses its attraction when one considers the added time and fuel costs.

Meanwhile, the The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that the threat of terrorist attacks at U.S. ports or coastal waterways cancelled out about half the productivity gains in logistics over the past 10 years.

“Fears have even been voiced that the permanent terrorist threat is compromising the entire globalization process of the past 3 decades,” stated analysts for World Ocean Review.

Yet despite the obvious impact this would make on the international supply chains, certain countries still will not act decisively against the ocean terrorists, for fear of public opinion at home.

For those of us who lost family, friends, and colleagues on this day in 2001, this attitude is inexcusable.