Port workers be warned: February deadline for port identification could cause slowdown.

• Author: Lavrakas, Dimitra
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

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"It's a smart card and has a magnetic electronic strip and biometric (fingerprint template) information on the individual that isn't contained on the card. The primary purpose for us is the absolute importance that marine and port workers get registered and activated with their credentials."

--Capt. Mark Hamilton, Sector Commander, U.S. Coast Guard

Come Feb. 12, all workers who enter Alaska ports to do their jobs with unescorted access to port facilities and Outer Continental Shelf facilities must have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or they will not be able to work. Period.

Officials for TSA and the U.S. Coast Guard say this is a hard deadline and there will be no extension. If a truck driver or any mariner doesn't have their identification credentials on that day in February, they will not be allowed to go to work. This possibly could put a wrench into the working of ports through the state.

This identification is not a precursor to any national identification card, reassures Coast Guard Sector Commander Capt. Mark Hamilton.

"It's a smart card and has a magnetic electronic strip and biometric (fingerprint template) information on the individual that isn't contained on the card," Hamilton said. "The primary purpose for us is the absolute importance that marine and port workers get registered and activated with their credentials."

Hamilton said that 10,000 to 12,000 need to be registered in Alaska, but as of early October, only 7,000 had taken the time to begin the process to obtain the ID.

There is the problem, he said, that the background checks are scaring people off because of a criminal history or citizenship status, but on Feb. 12, avoiding the...