Posted on: Tuesday, November 9, 2004

EDITORIAL
Security at Honolulu Harbor ever evolving

Harbor security became a major issue during the recent presidential campaign, with Democrat John Kerry charging the country had not done enough to keep our ports safe from terrorist threats.

Kerry had a legitimate point. But clearly it's extremely difficult to guarantee 100 percent security in our busy ports.

But the goal is, and should be, to continually reduce opportunities for terrorists and others who threaten our security, so that the odds shift in our favor rather than theirs.

That's a particular concern in busy Honolulu Harbor, which handles as much as $3 billion in foreign cargo a year.

The latest tool — and it sounds like a smart one — is the installation of a drive-through radiation detector, which will check all cargo after it leaves the docks and before it finds its way onto Honolulu's streets. This is a backup to the existing system of monitoring containers for radiation using hand-held devices.

The radiation portal monitor is the latest piece of equipment designed to add a layer of protection against "dirty bombs" or other forms of radioactive material from getting out of the harbor and into Honolulu. It won't, of course, stop such materials from entering the harbor.

On that side of the ledger, local officials are working with domestic agencies and with foreign authorities at major shipping ports abroad on a wide variety of security measures.

This includes sophisticated monitoring of shipments at points of origin in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea and elsewhere.

Comprehensive data bases now allow officials to check manifests and determine if something might be amiss.

At sea, the Coast Guard regularly intercepts ships to see if their paperwork and security systems are in order.

When the cargo enters Honolulu, a variety of techniques are brought to bear. A large number of containers are X-rayed, others are hand-inspected.

Ultimately, we will have to move toward a system of "smart" containers that are computerized and offer up constant real-time information about their contents and any changes to them.

Until then, our safety depends on smart human intelligence, the best technology available and cooperation that accepts some level of inconvenience in exchange for higher levels of security.