Port Security: LA Floats Boat to "Screen" Incoming Vessels

Reported here:

The $3 million ship is manned by explosives experts and outfitted with WMD detection equipment. Vessels would have their cargo checked prior to coming into the United States’ most trafficked port complex, the Associated Press reported. Vessels undergo additional screening once they arrive at the port.

The Sheriff’s Department also has a helicopter that searches for radioactive material (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 10).

“The port complex is one of the most critical infrastructures in the United States,” said Jack Ewell, who oversees the project for the Sheriff’s Department, CBS News reported.

More here:

The new measures include a specially outfitted ship to screen cargo vessels, a radiation detecting helicopter and a dog that can sniff chemical and biological weapons.

The $3-million screening ship is the first of its kind in the world. It can scan the contents of a ship through its hull as it is being escorted into port. The security ship can transmit the data to shore based authorities. It also has a submersible rover that can search hulls for explosives in zero visibility conditions.