As a post-9/11 security measure, the Coast Guard has stepped up its inspections of ships trying to land and deliver cargo at our ports. Naturally, even if your ship isn’t smuggling any terrorists or illegal contraband or what have you, this causes some somewhat pricey inconveniences. Consequently, the Coast Guard has started forewarning ships that they’re going to be inspected in order to reduce the delay. Which is fine. Unless, of course, the ship you’re inspecting actually does have some mischief taking place on board in which case the warning stands a good chance of tipping off the malefactors. After all, advance notice sort of undermines the point of random inspections.
Cargo and port security is all messed up. I like the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act and even Heritage has some nice things to say about it.
