Container Shipping and Security Issues: the Carriers' Responsibility in the Fight Against Terrorism

Today, the container shipping industry faces a threat from terrorism that could not be envisaged before 9/11. While the public sector has already initiated a variety of aggressive programs to tackle such threats, the private industry also needs to prove its ability to share the burden. An imminent challenge is to deter and prevent the use of ocean containers as weapons of mass destruction. This paper specifically focuses on an effective use of information technology to assist the fight against terrorism. It proposes a new idea to the container shipping industry, namely that the container shipping industry must approach security issues through the use of interconnected standardised databases within a common information system. The industry was born in the late 1960s, when technology was not readily available to accommodate an information system at this level. The dramatic progress of information technology, however, permits the industry today to embrace new business solutions in order to strengthen security. Many years ago, this was just a concept and a theory, but today it can be put into actual practice. These solutions would ensure the authorities' fast and timely response against terrorism. Immediate action by the industry is now necessary to prevent any ocean container from being used as a weapon of mass destruction. Maritime Economics & Logistics (2004) 6, 157–186. doi:10.1057/palgrave.mel.9100101