License to boat? Government lacks clear plans to ID small vessels used as terrorist weapons.

• Author: Wagner, Breanne
• Position: PORT SECURITY - Identify

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Small boats have been used by terrorists to carry out attacks around the world and they are likely to be employed as weapons in U.S. waterways, the government has recently warned.

Officials believe small vessels--defined as those less than 300 gross tons--are a potential threat because they are easy to obtain and there are few defenses in place to stop them from being used as a platform to launch an attack.

"We are very concerned about people doing harm with small vessels because we have breaches every week," said Dana Goward, director of Coast Guard maritime domain awareness. An estimated 14 unidentified boats reach U.S. shores each week.

DHS and the Coast Guard have put the spotlight on the possibility of such an attack, emphasizing the need to protect U.S. waterways. But despite efforts to create new security measures, officials are failing to garner the support of small boat owners and operators because of the lack of a clear, cohesive plan.

During a speech in December 2006, Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, singled out the threat of waterborne improvised explosive devices on boats, saying that the issue needed extra attention.

While the Coast Guard believes it has done "due diligence" to secure larger vessels, it is now "time to look at this other gap," Goward told National Defense.

The Coast Guard and DHS are concerned about three specific threat scenarios involving small vessels. First is the use of a boat to smuggle people or weapons of mass destruction into the United States. A second concern, as Allen said, is that a boat will be used as a weapon itself by a suicide bomber. DHS has pointed to the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 as a prime example. A bombladen small boat crashed into the Navy ship and exploded in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen U.S. sailors lost their lives.

"That was a vivid demonstration of the damage that a waterborne IED carried in a small vessel can inflict on a much larger ship, even a Navy ship," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during the national small vessel security summit. "Imagine for yourself the consequences of waterborne IEDs against passenger ships, against tankers, against port facilities themselves," he added.

The third scenario involves a boat used as a platform to launch a weapon, such as a short -range ballistic missile, Goward said. The government believes the steady flow of foreign vessels into U.S. waterways makes all three situations possible.

In order to decrease the risk of an attack, the government is proposing new security plans. Some suggestions have been met with stiff resistance.

During his speech last year, Allen suggested that it was time for the government to require boat operators to have a special license.

"As of 2006, there's no mandatory operator or licensing requirements [for boats] in this country ... sooner or later we're going to have to come to grips with the fact that we...