Proceedings Of The Marine

SPR 2014

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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17 Spring 2014 Proceedings www.uscg.mil/proceedings Since much of our nation is surrounded by water, this affects our global trade, commerce, and tourism. So it is no won- der that maritime security and port security are essential facets of overall U.S. border security. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) monitors more than 95,000 miles of coastline, along with hundreds of ports, the Intracoastal Waterway, western rivers, and the Great Lakes to protect our nation's waters, the people who use them, and our nation from waterborne threats. 1 The USCG Domestic Port Security Evaluation Divi- sion provides a suite of integrated tools to assess, analyze, and mitigate risks associated with maritime terrorism. PS-RAT/MSRAM At its inception in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, division personnel created the Port Secu- rity Risk Assessment Tool (PS-RAT), which allowed local captains of the port to assess port vulnerabilities and poten- tial consequences in the event of a maritime terrorist attack. However, the subjectivity of the tool at the feld level made it diffcult to glean useful conclusions on a national level. In 2006, building upon the strengths of the PS-RAT and aligning with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7, 2 Domestic Port Security Evaluation Division members cre- ated the Maritime Security Risk Analysis Model (MSRAM). It has since become a USCG accredited and institutionalized tool — the ffth system to achieve formal accreditation. The Coast Guard uses the MSRAM risk analysis tool to assess the risk of terrorist attacks to the marine transporta- tion system, critical infrastructure, key resources, and other potential terrorist targets. The tool contains more than 30,000 potential nationwide targets and 100,000 attack scenarios, analyzed using a common risk methodology that considers: • the threat of an attack, • target vulnerability, • the consequences of a successful attack. MSRAM feld analysts submit data annually, which are then reviewed and validated through the chain of command. The data are used to support Coast Guard risk management decisions at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. The Coast Guard also shares Maritime Security Risk Analysis Model data with maritime stakeholders through area mari- time security committees. Since 2006, personnel have enhanced the tool annually, add- ing features such as explosive blast and secondary economic modeling tools to improve consequence estimates, a system security calculator to improve vulnerability judgments, and refned threat input through collaboration with the USCG Intelligence Coordination Center. Risk Management Workspace In 2013, the division released the Risk Management Work- space (RMW) to feld users, as an extension of MSRAM that functions within the Coast Guard's Enterprise Geographic Information System. The RMW is a user-friendly way to display and communicate risk information and perform additional analyses that rely on geospatial information. The workspace displays targets, scenarios, and risk-related MSRAM data. It includes features such as user-defined population, blast and hazardous chemical dispersion con- sequence calculators for fxed and moving maritime assets, Border Security Tools Managing risk at our maritime borders. by lt MiChelle KeAting Project Offcer U.S. Coast Guard Domestic Port Security Evaluation Division Mr. PhiliP howArD Project Manager ABS Consulting Mr. CAMeron AriMoto Risk Analyst ABS Consulting Plans, Partnerships, Policies Spring2014_FINAL.indd 17 3/21/14 11:13 AM

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