Security precautions on the way for BC Ferries

With Saturday's bomb threat still the top story around the BC Ferries office this week, the province has weighed in with a few ideas of its own to try and make the coastal waters of BC safe and secure.

Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon, ordered a review of the security of B. C. 's transportation sector last year and has plans to go to England in September, to investigate first hand how the British have increased their vigilance on security in the wake of the London tube attacks.

After reviewing his findings, Falcon says security changes could come to B.C. Ferries as early as 2008.

That's in addition to a federal study into security in Transportation set to get underway in mid August and B. C. Ferries own internal plans to address the security issue.

The Times Colonist examined the provinces plans for security in an ever changing world situation.

Province reviewing security on ferries
Changes could come as early as next year
Jeff Rud
Times Colonist
Tuesday, July 31, 2007'

New security precautions to battle potential terrorists and other threats of violence could be coming to B.C. Ferries within the next year, the province's transportation minister said yesterday.

Kevin Falcon said he asked the deputy ministers of B.C.'s transportation and solicitor general's ministries a year ago to conduct a review of security procedures on the province's public transportation systems, including ferries, airlines, SkyTrain and highways.

Falcon will also travel to England in mid-September for meetings with security officials of the subway and ferry systems in that country, which has experienced recent terrorist violence.
Based on that visit and the results of the deputies' review, Falcon said security changes could come to B.C. Ferries as early as 2008.

Falcon made his comments two days after a bomb-threat hoax shut down ferry traffic between Vancouver Island and the Tsawwassen terminal on the mainland for more than five hours.
While he refused to commit to anything, Falcon said that, if deemed worthwhile, the province would consider measures such as the bomb-sniffing dogs employed at Washington state ferry terminals. "I don't want to unnecessarily alarm the public, but I do want people to know that this issue of security is something high on the province's radar screen. ...

We'll probably have a better sense late in the fall, as to concrete steps we can take." Falcon said B.C. Ferries handled the weekend situation "very well." But he has been concerned in a general sense with security on B.C.'s public transportation systems for at least a year. "If something happens somewhere, I want to make sure that we've got a plan in place on how to deal with it."

When asked whether he sees B.C. ferry passengers enduring personal scanners or vehicle searches, Falcon said: "I hope not. ... You want to have a level of protection that is aligned with the threat assessment." He said it may be necessary to use a "step-up" approach to more stringent ferry security if RCMP or national security officials detect a pending threat.

B.C. Ferries is in the midst of spending $3.9 million in federal funding to enhance security at its terminals. That work includes new fencing and closed-circuit security cameras, but B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall would provide no details beyond that. The company expects to receive more federal money over the next two years for security.

B.C. Ferries does no passenger, luggage or vehicle checks. But Marshall confirmed the fleet does have plain-clothes security staff, although she refused to provide a total number or indicate where they are deployed.

The company doesn't keep a passenger manifest for its main routes. It began compiling those lists on its three northern ferries after the sinking of the Queen of the North.

"What we've got to do is weigh the risk," Marshall said. "If we were to get a passenger manifest or check every vehicle or search every passenger that goes on, say, the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay run, we certainly wouldn't be having 16 sailings per day."

Transport Canada will hold public consultations this fall, including one in Victoria, about whether to include domestic ferries under its Marine Transport Security Regulations, which govern international ferries and cruise ships. Transport Canada spokeswoman Julia Ukrintz could not elaborate on what changes B.C. Ferries would have to make should it be compelled in the future to follow those regulations.

Security concerns spur changes at BC Ferries

There's going to be a noticeable difference very soon when you prepare to board a BC Ferry in the province. Owing to the state of the world today and with an eye back to 9-11 and other high profile sercurity issues over the years, BC Ferries is looking to change a few things about your Ferry experience.

The CBC BC website has details from Canadian Press of what BC Ferries has planned in order to be more security conscious and enhance the present security situation on the fleets vessels and terminals.

More cameras, increased fencing and random passenger screenings all are part of the changes to the ways that BC Ferries operates in the changing times. It may require a change of attitude to the passenger as well, gone no doubt are the days of dashing down to the Ferry terminal to scramble onboard a vessel just in the nick of time.

Instead preparation and patience may become new buzzwords in the Ferry line up!


BC Ferries plans to boost security
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 3, 2007 9:09 PM PT
The Canadian Press

BC Ferries will beef up security to meet Transport Canada requirements, but will stop short of airport-style measures that would slow down travel, the company's president says.

"What's going to happen is there'll be continual upgrades to the security system," David Hahn said Tuesday, adding all ferry systems in Canada will be affected by guidelines to be released in the fall.

"If it's appropriate, we will move to more aggressive things like screening, but I don't think there's any master plan to screen every passenger," Hahn said.

He said there may be random security checks of some people, "not any kind of profiling."
Hahn said BC Ferries will continue to operate with the least amount of intrusion possible.
His comments contradict those made earlier Tuesday by Manuel Achadinha, vice-president of terminal operations for the fleet.

"There will be times, for example, if security incidents increase, it'll be like the airports," Achadinha said. "It might take you an hour to get through."

BC Ferries has slowly increased security by adding more cameras, providing employees with identification badges, installing more fencing around terminals and restricting access on some areas of the fleet.

Hahn said the new security measures have nothing to do with the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, but have ties to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks in the United States, the commuter train bombing in Madrid in 2004 and London's subway bombing in 2005.

"I don't think people should be overly concerned that there's going to be this massive slowdown in transit times," he said.

"The only time it would get difficult to travel is when it should be difficult to travel, which is if there's some kind of extraordinary event and people would expect that."

Union supports security initiative

An official at the BC Ferry and Marine Workers' Union in Nanaimo said the union is aware of the security measures being considered and generally supports the initiative.

"They are keeping us in the loop and that's where we like to be. We're all on the same side on this issue," said the union official, who did not want to be identified.

Canadian security expert Michel Juneau-Katsuya said screening ferry passengers and vehicles can be done but it presents complications.

"People have mixed feelings about it because of the sheer technicality of having to deal with volume," he said from Ottawa.

Explosive materials

Potentially explosive materials such as gasoline and industrial chemicals that airport sniffer machines detect can be carried on ferries legitimately, said Juneau-Katsuya, a former officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

He said terrorist groups are less likely to target ferries than other forms of transportation, such as Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system.

However, a December 2006 report on maritime terrorism by the Rand Corp., an American think tank, said ferries are particularly vulnerable to attack because of the speed needed to board passengers, cargo and vehicles.

And unlike cruise ships or cargo vessels, whose hull designs make them hard to sink, ferries sit low in the water and have open car decks, the report said.

"Attacks on ferries are easy to execute, have the potential to kill many people, are likely to capture significant media attention and can be exploited to visibly demonstrate a terrorists group's salience," the report said.