Law-enforcement officers board foreign freighter in port
By SHELLEY TERRYStaff Writer
sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA - - Homeland security hit home early Thursday when federal and local law-enforcement officers boarded a cargo ship at Pinney Dock.
The Yosemite, owned by Greece but registered in the African country of Liberia, sailed at 6:30 a.m. into Port Ashtabula.
The U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs officers, the U.S. Coast Guard, city police, including the department's Special Operations Group and police dogs, greeted the crew and immediately boarded the vessel.
"We do random boarding to ensure the safety of the vessel," said Chief Petty Officer Tim Woody of the Coast Guard in Ashtabula. "It was a great opportunity for us to work with other law enforcement (agencies) on all levels."
It was the ship's first time in a U.S. port.
After two hours of checking paperwork, performing inspections and drilling with the ship's 27-man crew, officials found nothing amiss, Woody said.
The ship carried titanium slag, which is a mineral, and previously had stopped in ports in Saudi Arabia and South Africa, police said.
Residents should not be alarmed, Woody said, as Thursday's boarding is more routine now since the terrorist attacks against the United States of America on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Coast Guard made changes, refocused it's efforts, and developed new tools and policies to protect the American people, according to the Coast Guard's Web site.
The military branch's new security posture developed since 9/11, now includes:
- A Maritime Safety and Security Team - - federal maritime SWAT teams - - highly trained, strategically located and specially equipped to provide an extra layer of security to key ports, waterways and facilities;
- Boarding and inspecting ships to search for threats and confirm the identities of those aboard;
- Special boarding procedures by which Coast Guard security officers remain onboard some ships as they enter and leave ports to ensure that they stay safely on course; and
- A new centralized National Vessel Movement Center and a requirement that foreign ships to provide a 96-hour notice of arrival in port, plus enhanced information about the ship, cargo and all the people on board the vessel.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 10/27/2006
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