Ships tipped off to surprise searches(LONG, BEACH, CA)

San Diego Union ^ | May 20, 2006 | Timothy Egan

[GAB-1955]

Bull. The ships that get tipped off about the inspections in advance are the ones that the Coast Guard knows are going to pass. I worked with Port Security. There are several shipping lines that are really good about safety and about security and they get a "preferred" treatment. You don't know the whole story and that reaction is in error.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Shipping schedulers build in a few days of demurrage every month. The $40,000/hr, which seems quite high, is already built into the base rate.

[radar101]

It sounds like something Washington could have come up with You catch on FAST!

[KylaStarr]

I read this article in the Union Trib this morning as I was having my first cup of coffee.........

How nice of the Coast Guard to let them know that they are coming to visit, gives them so much time to "tidy up"! I'm so sick of this!

.... sarcasm from sd

[Vince Ferrer]

Or maybe they would lift a 40' container off and dump it.

Most container ships do not have a crane to lift a container on board, this can only be done at port. Also, Containers are stacked many levels deep, and tied together. If the ship crew started monkeying around with a container at sea, it could cause a stack of containers to collapse, and endanger the whole cargo or ship. Even opening a container may become a dangerous activity at sea.

The assumtion for some posters is that the shipping company has an interest in the criminal activity. Their business is to ship things in sealed containers. and it is a costly business. It is their customers that may have a suspicious shipment, and need to be monitored.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"No excuse. This is sick.
Court Martial, sentence them...and if they're still alive after their time served,
then dishonorably discharge them!!"

Yet another puts faith in a newspaper account
(San Diego Union)of
"what's really happening" instead of the Coast Guard.

Bet they told you WMD's didn't exist and Bush lied. LOL

---

Capt. Frank Sturm, a top policy official at headquarters in Washington, said the national policy on the boardings was fluid, depending on the presence of reasonable suspicions. Sturm said he could not provide details of how many ships were given notice, in which ports or under what circumstances.

Another Coast Guard official in Washington, D.C. Cmdr. Paul Thorne, said the practice had not compromised security.

“Threats are being adeptly managed by local captains of the port,” Thorne said.

---

[glorgau]

I was sitting outside the Golden Gate a few weeks ago watching ships come and go. (sort of like trainspotting ;-) One can see lots of stuff with a cheap pair of 15X70 binoculars. It is possible to read ship names and tell flagging from miles away.

It still amazed me to see just how fast the Chinese flagged container ships approached the bay entrance. They didn't cut full throttle untill they were within perhaps two miles of the entrance. It takes the big ships a long time to slow down. Pity any sailboats that get underfoot. From a little checking though, evidently harbor pilots board every container ship about 12 miles out.

[Eagles6]

save

[GAB-1955]

The details are restricted but the story gets it very, very wrong. This is a big problem with Customs and Coast Guard; you can inspect 100 percent but the loss of time for shippers makes them very unhappy. So, trustworthy shippers who are pre-cleared can go in advance. However, the lists keep getting updated; if you start doing dodgy things, you're no longer on the pre-cleared track.

And that's all I will say about the matter.