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LONDON (Reuters) - The threat of an al Qaeda attack from the sea remains an "absolute concern" and could intensify as operations on land are countered, the U.S. Navy's top commander in the Gulf told Reuters on Monday. Since the September 11 attacks on the United States, governments and security experts have repeatedly voiced fears about the vulnerability of the maritime industry, which carries more than 90 percent of the world's traded goods. "I don't think there is any question that as we thwart their attacks and disrupt their operations on land, that we should expect them to turn to...

AN Australian port could be attacked or a ferry hijacked by terrorists to transport weapons of mass destruction, because of gaps in the maritime border security net. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has found a lack of awareness from states and the federal Government about the specific threats posed from the sea. "A determined and expert terrorist is still likely to have little difficulty in entering Australia by sea, and will probably only be defeated by advance intelligence of his movements," the institute says in a report titled Future unknown: the terrorist threat to Australian maritime security. "We have high...

Bush isn't protecting our seaports? Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush is Winning the War on Terror | 2004 | Richard Miniter Posted on 10/18/2004 6:49:46 AM PDT by TexasTaysor (John Kerry stated in the 3rd debate that our seaports were not being protected, that Bush had failed miserably and he would do it better. Bush is doing it just fine.) Chapter 5 - Terror At Sea “This is the story of that war, one that America and it’s allies have unequivocally won so far. It is the largely untold tale of ingenious terrorist plots, modern-day pirates, and...

SPANISH authorities are seeking the extradition of a German-based Syrian businessman suspected of helping Osama Bin Laden buy a ship, write Peter Conradi and Justin Sparks. Marmoun Darkanzali, 46, believed to have been close to several of the hijackers on September 11, 2001, is alleged to have helped the Al-Qaeda leader with the purchase of a freighter. A source close to German intelligence named the ship as Jennifer and said it had been bought in 1993. Spanish authorities claimed Darkanzali had been an important figure, providing logistical and financial support to Bin Laden in Britain, Spain and Germany since 1997....

Strait: Target for terror By Ioannis Gatsiounis KUALA LUMPUR - While it benefits some parties to talk up the threat of terror - whether to gain a contract or a foothold in a foreign land - the Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian governments, burdened with monitoring the world's busiest strait, would like nothing more than to prove to the world that everything's under control. Indeed, with 600 vessels and 11 million barrels of oil passing through the Malacca Strait each day, everything has to be under control. So it followed that on July 20, in conjunction with the three countries'...

JAKARTA, June 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia's naval chief has ordered his commanders to shoot dead armed terrorists or pirates operating in key waterways including the busy Strait of Malacca, which carries a third of world trade. Navy Chief of Staff, Bernard Kent Sondakh, would also meet soon with his counterparts from Malaysia and Singapore to seek ways to increase joint patrols in the Strait, officials said on Friday. The Malacca Strait is an 805-km (500-mile) channel through which about 50,000 commercial vessels pass each year, including ships ferrying 80 percent of Japan's oil needs. "In the future, every thief or...

Something is going on with the mysterious Al Qaeda navy, and no one involved is saying much. In June, 2003, the 2,000 ton coastal freighter “The Baltic Sky” was seized off Greece by Greek commandos. The ship was found to be carrying 750 tons of TNT and 8,000 detonators. The ships paperwork said it was carrying fertilizer, not TNT and detonators. The seven man crew (five Ukrainians and two Azeris) said they were just following instructions from their owner. But the instructions made no sense. The ship had picked up the explosives in Tunisia, and was supposed to deliver the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The recent attacks on the USS Cole (DDG-67) and the French supertanker MV Limburg offer a stark illustration of terrorist interest in maritime targets. U.S. intelligence officials have identified between 12 and 300 ships possibly owned and/or operated by al Qaeda. Upon his capture, the alleged al Qaeda mastermind behind the USS Cole attack, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein Abda Al-Nasheri, reportedly confessed to planning future attacks against U.S. and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence agencies have described an increase in terrorist "chatter" regarding ships, port facilities,...

Al-Qaeda may have developed a terrorist naval force of 15-30 vessels, a terrorism expert says. Alexey Muraviev, co-ordinator of graduate studies in strategy and defence at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, told a maritime security conference in Sydney yesterday that there were signs a big terrorist strike might be planned. Evidence included the attacks on the USS Cole in Aden in 2000 and the French tanker Limburg off Yemen in 2002, reconnaissance activities and attempts to obtain maritime strike capabilities. "These indicators raise serious concerns that what we may be observing is the pre-operational phase of a future maritime...

New Orleans to Become One of the Country's First Ports to Institute a New Monitoring System Mar 24, 2004 By Doug Simpson / Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Since 1936, a lone federal worker has sat in a tower along the Mississippi River, scanning the water with binoculars and radioing ship captains on whether to proceed or stop their vessels. Not for long. The radioman will be gone by the end of the year, replaced by a new computerized system that will track and send messages to all large vessels on the lower Mississippi. The system will be...

The top U.S. Customs official on Monday unveiled new high-tech equipment that will be used at the nation's seaports in the fight against terrorism. Highly sophisticated radiation monitors will be installed at every seaport in the United States. The sensitive detection equipment is designed to prevent terrorists from smuggling radioactive material, in the form of dirty bombs or nuclear weapons, into the country. The Port of New York and New Jersey, one of the nation's busiest seaports, will be equipped with the monitors by the end of August, making it one of the first to have them. U.S. Customs Commissioner...

<p>SINGAPORE (AP) -- The al-Qaida terror network likely is planning an unprecedented maritime attack, hitting targets on land with ships carrying chemical, biological or dirty bomb weapons, a defense analyst said Wednesday.</p> <p>The terrorist network could easily exploit weaknesses in shipping companies' crew selection procedures by planting sleeper agents on vessels to eventually seize them, said Michael Richardson, a senior researcher at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies who writes extensively on Asian security issues.</p>

THE next wave of terrorist attacks would be bombs planted on freight ships and detonated at ports such as Sydney or Melbourne, an international affairs expert predicted today. Keith Suter, director of studies of the Australian branch of the International Law Association, also believes Australia's links with the United States made it a more obvious terrorist target. He said terrorist groups were learning from each other via the media and now realised surface transport, such as the train bomb attacks in Madrid, was an easier target than air transport. Dr Suter said terrorists' next step would be to target shipping....

A British Intelligence group has joined, visiting UN and Australian experts warning that world ports and shipping are vulnerable to a major terrorist attack AL-QAEDA and its associates could be planning a "maritime spectacular," Dominick Donald of Aegis Research and Intelligence told a London security conference this week. "If a boat that didn't cost $1,000 managed to devastate an oil tanker of that magnitude, imagine the extent of the danger that threatens the West's commercial lifeline, which is petroleum," he said. Donald was referring to concerns raised since the attack on the oil tanker VLCC Limburg. Addressing delegates at the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Bin Laden has bought fleet of 15 ships for terror attacks Gary Jones OSAMA bin Laden has a "terrorist navy" of 15 ships. And Scotland Yard has warned one could sail up the Thames to attack Parliament. The vessels - capable of carrying lethal chemicals or a dirty bomb - could also ram cruise liners, oil rigs or enter ports on missions of destruction. A private memo sent to police chiefs by the Met's marine unit is headlined: Next Terror Attack Waterborne? Ship insurer Lloyd's of London is said to be...

WARSHIPS will take on a greater policing role to counter escalating threats to shipping and national security such as piracy, kidnappings and smuggling, navy chief Chris Ritchie said. The HMAS Brisbane docked in her home port. Navy warships will be turning their attentions increasingly to crime at sea / File In a speech to a maritime conference in Sydney on the role of the navy post-September 11, Rear Admiral Ritchie said the service was being called on to perform a wider range of tasks beyond traditional warfare. These included intercepting illegal cargoes, smugglers, fishermen and traffickers in missiles and weapons...

<p>The U.S. Navy has seized another small boat carrying drugs near the Persian Gulf after interrogating smugglers with suspected links to the al Qaeda terrorist network, the military announced yesterday.</p> <p>The boat seized on New Year's Day was the fourth drug-smuggling vessel intercepted by Americans in the past two weeks in or near the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials say they believe all four boats, which were carrying hashish, heroin and methamphetamines, are part of a drug-smuggling operation that funnels money to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.</p>

US seizes 'al-Qaeda drug boat' The US navy has made a series of arrests on the region's seas The US navy has intercepted a boat carrying drugs near the Gulf in what it says is a suspected al-Qaeda drugs trafficking operation. Fifteen people on board the vessel were arrested and the navy said it had found hashish with a street value of $11m hidden in compartments on board. It is at least the third drug-smuggling boat to have been seized in two weeks in or near the Gulf. A number of arrested sailors are being questioned, the Pentagon said. US...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 2, 2004Release Number: 04-01-05 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INTERROGATION OF SUSPECTED AL QAEDA AFFILIATES LEADS U.S. AND AUSTRALIAN NAVIES TO SEIZE MORE DRUGS ABOARD USS PELELIU, At Sea (1 JAN 2004) – Fifteen individuals were detained and an estimated 2,800 pounds of hashish (approximately $11 million street value) was seized by U.S. and coalition maritime forces following the interception of a dhow in the North Arabian Sea. These forces were operating in international waters in the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces...