US may ask planes to help track ships for security

WASHINGTON - The United States is considering using commercial jets as a new security eye in the sky to help track ships within 2000 nautical miles of its shores, a senior Coast Guard official said.

The move would be part of efforts to thwart terrorist attacks from the sea by al Qaeda or other groups. Security sources say ships, ports and waterways are extremely vulnerable to such attacks.

Jeffrey High, the US Coast Guard's director of Maritime Domain Awareness, said his agency might ask commercial planes to pick up routine ship signals which identify vessels and their cargo, and then to pass the information on to US authorities.

The Coast Guard would then check the data against available intelligence and other resources, looking for any inaccuracies, anything suspicious or unusual, to assess potential threats.

He said the Coast Guard had not yet approached any airlines with the proposal. About 8000 foreign-flagged ships dock in US ports every year.

"What we want to do is harness the fact that aircraft fly over some of the same routes that ships take," he said. "If they can put a receiver in an aircraft, then they can (receive) a signal that goes up from the ship in all directions ... and then we would know where the ships are."

High said the Coast Guard was concerned about maritime attacks, and knew the sector was vulnerable. Such concerns have been heightened since the attacks in Yemen on the US destroyer Cole in 2000 and on a French tanker in 2002.

"There is some credible evidence that there could be attacks," he said, emphasising there was no specific threat information. "We're doing our best to make sure that this vulnerable part of our system is protected the best we can."

"We know this will work. It's a matter of whether we will have willing partners," he said.

Doug Wills, a spokesman for Air Transport Association trade group, said he could not comment on the plan, but said the industry "would look at it if it is presented to us. "

Ships above 300 gross tons -- which account for the bulk of vessels crossing oceans -- must already transmit a so-called Automatic Identification System signal, which can be picked up within about 20-30 miles and was originally designed to avoid collisions.

The signal gives information such as a ship's name, size, speed, location and direction, as well as data on its cargo.

By getting commercial aircraft to tap into these AIS signals, the Coast Guard could have speedier and much more detailed information about a greater number of approaching ships than it currently has at its disposal.

High said the planes could either pass the information on to the Coast Guard automatically in real time, or save it on a computer and hand it over upon the plane's arrival. Because planes move so much faster than ships, the data would still reach the Coast Guard in plenty of time.

If it adopts the plan, the Coast Guard would probably ask US carriers first, but foreign airlines were also an option.

- REUTERS