Seafarers face terrorism threats in Red Sea and Malacca Straits, Part 2

The other potential chokepoint of opportunity for terrorists is the Malacca Straits, the 550 mile long waterway connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 50,000 ships pass through the Straits each year carrying 25-percent of the world’s oil. This month, the Singapore Navy reported that it has received information that an unnamed terrorist group is planning to unleash attacks in the Straits upon tankers and other large vessels. Two miles wide at its narrowest point and with over double the traffic volume of the BAM, it may prove to be the more lucrative of the two bottlenecks. Indonesia and Malaysia have increased military patrols in the Straits.

Perhaps the most lucrative target of opportunity would be the hijacking of an LNG tanker. At nearly 1,000 feet long, those ships can carry in excess of 35,000,000 gallons of LNG. That’s nearly 80 times the power of the bombs that struck Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Conceivably, terrorists could hijack an LNG ship and detonate it in a populated area. In fact, numerous public officials including the Boston Mayor and Massachusetts State House Speaker raised objections to allowing LNG tankers to arrive from Yemen; the first tanker berthed in the nearby Everett terminal on February 22.

There is debate about just how destructive an attempted explosion upon an LNG tanker would be. Some experts say that because of a double hull and nearly impenetrable storage tanks, it would be difficult to breach the cargo holds; it might be necessary to use a missile which is beyond the present arsenal of active pirate gangs limited to RPGs and AK-47s. Therefore, these experts believe that LNG ships do not make good targets.

Other experts say that even if the risk of an explosion is not great, the more realistic threat is of a 3,000 degree fireball killing tens of thousands of people within a half mile radius. The Everett terminal was shut down after 9-11 and for the 2004 Democratic Convention because of potential terrorist fears.

According to the Sandia National Laboratory, there are four ways that terrorists could use an LNG ship as a WMD: by ramming it into a stationary object, placing a mine in front of its path, ramming it with explosives (USS Cole attack) and hijacking it and sailing it into a population center.

Seafarers must take their own initiative in keeping up with the ever evolving threats that come with the job. Because the captains of industry, and the lawmakers above them, cannot be accused of being proactive in looking out for the threats of war, piracy and terrorism.

In World War Two, the U.S. Merchant Marine lost nearly 7,000 mariners, a percentage of deaths exceeded only by the Marine Corps. Yet, it wasn’t until almost a half century later that they were given veteran’s status and qualified for benefits.

In the past few years piracy has finally come to the attention of the general public and only very recently have companies begun to address mariners’ traditionally woeful lack of self-defense protection.

Rest assured, the maritime law community is aware of this.

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