Safe harbor? DHS will miss deadline to set up port security hubs.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Port Security - Department of Homeland Security

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CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Every morning, representatives of the Coast Guard, Department of Justice and Customs and Border Protection gather in a meeting room in a secure port facility here to plan the day's operations.

Joining them at the table are officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, state and local police agencies and port authority officers.

Looking 96 hours into the future, they run down the names and ships due to arrive in the coming days, what kinds of cargo they are moving and if there are any crew members aboard who might be "of interest." Local police agencies chime in with reports of any suspicious activity that may be occurring in the vicinity.

Project SeaHawk has been carrying out such meetings for more than three years under the leadership of the Justice Department. The overarching goal is to prevent the port from becoming a target of terrorism. The Safe Port Act passed in Oct. 2006 called for the creation of similar operational centers at "high-priority" ports by October 2009. But one Coast Guard official told National Defense that it will not be possible to meet that deadline. He said the future of SeaHawk and other proposed port security centers is uncertain.

Under SeaHawk, port security officials during the past three Lyears have developed the software, sensors and communications infrastructure needed to maintain a 24/7 watch on this regional port--the sixth largest in the United States based on the amount of customs revenue collected and the numbers of containers arriving each year.

Participants acknowledged that bringing the different agencies together to share information in the early days was a challenge, but they extol the current benefits.

Before SeaHawk, it wasn't uncommon for the different agencies with jurisdiction in the port to duplicate their efforts, said Capt. Michael McAllister, Coast Guard sector commander and Charleston's captain of the port.

"My boarding teams would run into Customs boarding teams at the bow of a ship," he said.

Today, boardings are carried out in a more efficient manner that allows the different agencies to make better use of their limited resources, officials said.

Project leaders in Charleston said most of the technology that was developed for SeaHawk can be transferred to other port security operations centers. Congress mandated the creation of these centers under the Safe Port Act. After October 2009, the centers, including SeaHawk, will fall under the Department of Homeland Security's purview.

Discussions continue among Justice and DHS officials to work out details on which DHS agency will take charge of the center.

DHS did not request funds to open other centers in the 2008 budget. Congress authorized, and then later earmarked, $60 million in the Coast Guard budget to do so. The Bush administration...