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Dubai Ports Executive Knocks U.S. Ports Security Law NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- An executive with Dubai Ports World, the Arab-owned firm whose purchase of American port facilities caused an uproar this year, Tuesday said a new U.S. port security law was fundamentally inadequate. "There's a fundamental shortcoming in the SAFE Port Act," said David Sanborn, Dubai Ports World's managing director of the Americas. "It's not ambitious enough." Dubai Ports, owned by the United Arab Emirates, became the center of a bitter debate in Congress after buying assets at six U.S. ports within its $6.8 billion purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. in February. The Bush administration approved the purchase of facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans. But lawmakers had security concerns about an Arab state-owned company running U.S. port terminals, and Dubai Ports responded by saying it would sell those U.S. assets. President Bush had nominated Sanborn to head the U.S. Maritime Administration, but he withdrew his name amid the ports uproar. Sanborn told a maritime security conference in Washington the assets are "nearly sold." The ports controversy advanced port security as an issue in Congress, which resulted in the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 Bush signed into law Friday. Story Continues Below
The act authorizes $3.4 billion over five years for safety measures, including installing radiation detectors at the 22 largest U.S. ports by the end of next year. Echoing some criticism voiced by Democrats, Sanborn criticized the act for setting up only a single pilot program to test at three foreign ports the feasibility of scanning cargo headed for the United States while it is still overseas. "Is imaging and radiation detection necessary to protect us? If we believe it is, we should agree to do it everywhere," Sanborn said. "This requires a global approach and not the unilateral or bilateral initiatives currently underway," he added. "The threats are global, they are not just directed at the United States." Sanborn said Dubai Ports World is working to form a coalition with other private port operators to address security issues and called on governments around the world to meet industry representatives early next year to hammer out new global standards for port security. He said any large port would require a number of scanning devices capable of detecting nuclear or other weapons inside shipping containers to upgrade security without impinging on the international supply chain of goods. The estimated cost of $500,000 per scanner is small compared with the $300 million overall investment for equipping even a small port, he said.
Copyright Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
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