A Practical Proposal for Maritime Security

This article was co-authored by Mark J. Graffagnini

Since the wake of the September 11 destruction, America has scrambled to craft a Maritime Security policy that guards our nation’s maritime assets and critical ports from similar attacks. The reaction to gaps in security has been swift and is quite admirable. The nation now, however, stands at a crucial juncture for implementing measures that guarantee our continued safety. "Terrorist Threat Continues," The Herald Rock, Aug. 24, 2003, at 2E ("While the government has poured resources into beefing up airline security, port security has taken a back seat. And while the nation must be on guard against another airline hijacking like that of September 11, 2001, our ports may be even more vulnerable."). Most of the scholarly analyses on the issue of maritime security have focused on two issues: (1) liability in the event of maritime terrorism; and (2) possible scenarios for maritime terrorism. In today’s environment, "[c]onventional