Grand Bahama meets container security challenges

Securing the international supply chain from being used as a vehicle for terrorist acts is the responsibility of all countries involved in international trade.

Trading relationships in the global environment encounter security challenges from such negative and destructive forces as the international drug trade and the smuggling of small arms and contraband, including nuclear, chemical, biological, and other deadly materials.

In the effort to stop terrorists before they reach the shores of the United States, trading partners are collaborating and developing screening and inspection processes that attempt to meet the security standards developed and required by the US.

Grand Bahama has been in the forefront of the compliance effort. The Container Security Initiative (CSI) represents an example of the close ties between the United States and The Bahamas, and of their expanding cooperation against terrorism. The CSI is designed to prevent global maritime cargo from being exploited by terrorists intent on inflicting harm in America and other nations of the world. Under the CSI, officers from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Immigration and Customs Enforcement are stationed at key seaports to work with host governments to identify high-risk shipments bound for the United States and examine these shipments prior to loading.

“The Freeport Container Port is the 44th port worldwide to join CSI, which strengthens the already strong economic ties between the two countries. It facilitates the free flow of goods from The Bahamas to the U.S.,” explained Dr. Brent Hardt Charge d’Affairs in Washington D.C. at the CSI signing ceremony, August 4, 2006. “Containers screened in Freeport quickly enter the stream of commerce in the United States, providing incentives for shippers to use Freeport as a transshipment point to the U.S.

“CSI is another way the U.S. and the Bahamas cooperate in the fight against terrorism. Terrorism experts consistently note the vulnerability of ports worldwide to terrorists seeking to smuggle weapons of mass destruction,” Hardt said. Together with the Megaports Agreement, the CSI serves as a deterrent to terrorist organizations that may seek to target the Freeport Container Port.

The Megaports Initiative, which serve to deter, detect, and interdict illicit nuclear and radioactive materials being trafficked through the global maritime system, was the result of a Memorandum Of Understanding between the United States and The Bahamas.

The Freeport Container Port offers shipping lines a 24-hour facility with the most advanced port computer systems, operational expertise and professional management coupled with state of the art security and full surveillance. The port is capable of handling the largest container vessels in the world, and aims to provide excellence in container services through the application of leading-edge technology, by using highly advanced ‘real-time’ communication and port management systems.