National Small Vessel Security Summit
Managing the Risk
The National Small Vessel Security Summit held June 19-20, 2007 brought together approximately 300 small vessel maritime stakeholders and top Federal, State and local government officials to
- Inform small vessel stakeholders on security risks in the U.S. maritime domain.
- Provide a national forum for small vessel stakeholders to discuss and present their ideas on the development of security measures to mitigate gaps in small vessel management and control in the maritime domain.
- Provide a national forum for state and local government officials, as well as private industry members of the small vessel population to discuss transportation concerns regarding security threats and present their ideas.
Record all issues and concerns from the small vessel community.
Topics Discussed
Listed below are a few major themes discussed by participants in breakout sessions. These themes do not indicate consensus or priorities.
- Risk assessment based measures to best channel actions and resources
- The balance and trade-offs between freedom, security, and economy
- Consistent policies with specialized implementation to fit the unique characteristics of each individual port
- Establishment of resource requirements and funding streams
- Enhanced maritime security based on a coherent overall national strategy with a layered approach
- Intelligence, information sharing, local awareness and feedback
- A culture of partnership and trust within and across the boating community and public and private sector
- Expanded education and outreach for a variety of safety, security and trust-building purposes;
- Enhanced education and support of citizen/stakeholder - volunteer based watch systems in the maritime domain.
- Enhanced coordination, cooperation and communications between federal, state and local agencies.
- Operator identification using available credentials
- A strong regime of international agreements and cooperation to “push out the borders” and defeat the threat before it reaches U.S. waters
- Technologies and operational aspects of detecting radiological and nuclear threats, vessel identification and tracking, situational awareness, information sharing
View or download a detailed Report of the DHS National Small Vessel Security Summit, October 2007 (122 pages, 2.3 MB)
Based on a recommendation from the National Summit, we have initiated a program of Regional Summit meetings.
Questions/Inquiries: Email Robert.M.Gauvin@uscg.mil
This page was last reviewed/modified on February 8, 2008.
