Marine security the focus of many in Prince Rupert

With over eighteen different agencies keeping an eye on the place, the Port of Prince Rupert certainly won’t be a lonely place.

The Port Security Committee features a group of partners who meet monthly to examine current security efforts mandated under the Marine Transportation Security Act and Marine Transportation Security Regulations.

In Prince Rupert a number of high profile changes have been made to security around the Port facilities including control gates at both the Fairview Container Port and Ridley Island Access road, the use of security cameras, roving patrols as well as the construction of a command and control centre at the Atlin Terminal area.

Security concerns include the approaches to the harbour, the actual harbour and port facilities and such areas as Ridley Island which in the past have been the site of parties or bonfires, a situation that may be about to change with the added importance to security by the Port.

The Daily News outlined the focus of the security group as part of the Wednesday paper.

Port security on agenda of new group
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Pages one and two

To meet all of the security demands that an international shipping and container terminal demand, a large group of stakeholders has been assembled to coordinate day-to-day operations in Prince Rupert and on Ridley Island.

The Port Security Committee is an group of partners who meet monthly to discuss ongoing security efforts and programs and which includes a large number of agencies working in collaboration. Those agencies include the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP Border Integrity Program, RCMP Rural Division, Rio Tinto-Alcan, Prince Rupert Grain, Ridley Terminals Inc., Maher Terminals, Transport Canada, Rupert Marine Shipping, GW Nickersons, Northcoast Shipping Agency, BC Ferries, Alaska Ferries, Prince Rupert Fire Department, BC Ambulance, Stromdahl's Service Ltd, and SMIT Marine.

"I look at it as a layered security approach, where the ship is responsible for its own security before it comes into the port," said Gary Paulsen, director of operations and security with the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

"If a ship doesn't have a valid security certificate, we don't allow it to enter the port. For example, Prince Rupert Grain is responsible for the security of their own terminal, and the port has a responsibility for the approaches to the terminal around it, and then of course we have first responders, CBSA, RCMP. So you get the picture that there's a layered approach which we all have a stake in, and we all work together."

In accordance with the Marine Transportation Security Act and Marine Transportation Security Regulations, the Prince Rupert Port Authority is required to meet, chair and engage such a security committee of all stakeholders. To "keep the group honest" is David Lee, regional security inspector with Transport Canada, who represents the interests of the committee and also oversees that local marine security is being carried out across all partner groups.

Last month's meeting saw a brief discussion of the new Quickload Container Examination facility at Ridley Island, which was originally slated to be completed by June of this year. The committee is still waiting for a formal reply from Quickload as to their new timeline for completion of the new facility, but informally the company is looking at a completion date of December 2008.
CBSA representative Trevor Baird said the temporary Watson Island site is working, but that everyone is looking forward to the completion of the new permanent inspection facility.

"It's a temporary facility, so there was a lot of discussion that went into it," said Baird.

"There was some key criteria that had to happen, one was the health and safety of our officers at the top of the list, the security of the commodities that are moving through, and it had to meet the general framework for us to functionally do our work. Those were the three non-negotiable criteria that had to be met, and they were, so we have containers moving through. And once the permanent facility comes online, that resolves anything that might be outstanding."

The port's newly established access-control gates at the entrances to Fairview Container Terminal and Ridley Island were also discussed at the February committee meeting. Paulsen said the gates are now in place and operational, but due to some software bugs in the system they are not yet able to operate them using a remote system from their command and control centre as planned.

The gates should be fully functioning on that system by the end of March or early April. And Paulsen reinforced the notion that the gates will typically remain open and access will be the same as always.

"If there's a threat or concern, or bonfires out at Ridley Island we'll be able to control access in the summertime, but right now those gates are open and it's business as usual," said Paulsen.

"We've also established a command and control centre, which is operational 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Part of that includes roving patrols through the whole footprint of PRPA, and all the monitoring of the harbour approaches and anchorages are in place and up and running."

See Friday's edition of The Daily News for the Port Security Committee's response to concerns about crime and other possible security issues in Prince Rupert.