Seattle, Tacoma to test port-security program

The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma will begin testing a high-tech security system to seal and track cargo containers from their origins to their destinations.

The pilot project, announced yesterday in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is an attempt to address the vulnerability of the nation's seaports to terrorist attacks.

But industry observers said the $8 million project is only a first step in securing the estimated 6 million cargo containers that enter U.S. ports each year. The initiative addresses only the shipping lanes between Seattle, Singapore and Hong Kong. About 3,000 of the radio-wave tracking devices are expected to be in place by September.

"Nobody is guaranteeing this will eliminate the risks," said Port of Seattle spokesman Mick Shultz. "But this puts us far ahead of where we've been."

The security devices use technology developed by the Department of Defense to secure and monitor the movement of supplies during the Gulf War.

The project is funded by two private corporations — Hutchinson Whampoa, which operates the Port of Hong Kong, and PSA, which operates the Port of Singapore.

The tracking device, developed by Savi Technology of Sunnyvale, Calif., works like the electronic tags on garments in department stores, looping through sealed cargo containers and emitting a radio frequency.

Cargo can be tracked from the port of origin through transfers to ships, trains or trucks. The device alerts workers if the container has been tampered with.

Currently, only about 2 percent of cargo containers are physically opened and searched, said Murray.

Flanked by officials of the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Customs Service and the Port of Seattle as well as Singapore's ambassador to the United States, Murray said the initiative "tells terrorists we will protect our cargo and our ports and close the gaps that may leave us vulnerable."

Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee, has asked for $28 million to bring the system to New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles/Long Beach and Seattle/Tacoma.

About 1.82 million cargo containers were handled by the ports of Seattle and Tacoma last year, Shultz said.

Mic Dinsmore, chief executive of the Port of Seattle, warned at a July 1 congressional hearing on commerce security that a terrorist incident at a major U.S. port could produce a catastrophic economic downturn. Almost 90 percent of American goods come through U.S. ports, Dinsmore said.

If it becomes too costly or difficult to bring foreign goods into the U.S. because of new security measures, Dinsmore said, shippers could route their goods through Mexico or Canada.

"If this happens, it will totally undermine all our security efforts and put the nation in a vulnerable situation," Dinsmore said.

Seattle Times reporter Katherine Pfleger contributed to this report.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-2922 or lthompson@seattletimes.com.