Underwater security

Underwater Security
Underwater Security refers to those measures that must be taken to secure the safety of harbors and vessels, ports, coastal facilities and offshore rigs from terrorist acts that might occur in the surrounding waters or nearby land after an approach from the water. Since the beginning of the twenty first century, the increase in global terrorist activities has lead to serious concern on the part of governments worldwide to ensure the safety of their maritime assets and their citizens. Terrorist activities are by nature, unanticipated acts that are directed at the destruction of both human life and property.
The threat of underwater terrorist attack is, therefore, a concern to both the maritime industry and port law enforcement agencies. Ports face a range of threats from swimmers, boat-delivered ordnance such as limpet mines and other forms of improvised underwater explosive devices. Ports can contain a number of specific facilities that could be targeted by terrorists, including military vessels and bases, cruise ships, passenger ferries, terminals, dams and locks, power plants, refineries, pipelines and other critical infrastructure. Off-shore gas and oil rigs also face these threats.
The Terrorist Threat
The terrorist threat facing maritime facilities has grown and is today a many faceted set of possibilities. This is one of the characteristics that make it difficult to anticipate and monitor.
Non-state terrorist groups that exploit open borders challenge the sovereignty of nations and have an increasingly damaging effect on international affairs. With advanced telecommunications, they can coordinate their actions among dispersed cells while remaining in the shadows. Successful attacks in the maritime domain provide opportunities to cause significant disruption to regional and global economies. Today’s terrorists are increasing their effectiveness and reach by establishing links with other like minded organizations around the globe. Some terrorist groups have used shipping as a means of conveyance for positioning their agents, logistical support, and generating revenue. Terrorists have also taken advantage of criminal smuggling networks to circumvent border security measures.
Terrorists can develop effective attack capabilities relatively quickly using a variety of platforms, including explosives-laden suicide boats and light aircraft; merchant and cruise ships as kinetic weapons to ram another vessel, warship, port facility, or offshore platform; commercial vessels as launch platforms for missile attacks; underwater swimmers to infiltrate ports; and unmanned underwater explosive delivery vehicles. Mines are also an effective weapon because they are low-cost, readily available, easily deployed, difficult to counter, and require minimal training. Terrorists can also take advantage of a vessel’s legitimate cargo, such as chemicals, petroleum, or liquefied natural gas, as the explosive component of an attack. Vessels can be used to transport powerful conventional explosives or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for detonation in a port or alongside an offshore facility.
For security forces, the area under surveillance in a harbor is relatively small (on the
order of several kilometers, the size of the body of water in the harbor), but visual and
aural cues are nevertheless of little use for detecting submerged attackers. One must rely
almost entirely on sophisticated technology for surveillance.

The United States' Response
The United States' response to the need for underwater security has been a layered strategy designed to plan and carry out necessary actions for protection of maritime facilities. Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs) were created under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) as part of the direct response to the , and are a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body invested with the task of providing for underwater security as part of total homeland security.
Underwater Security Systems
Diver Detection Sonar Systems as one of several Anti-frogman techniques can be a vital part of the underwater security system necessary for protecting coastal and offshore sites. A number of commercial companies as well as the US Navy and Coastguard are active in developing these systems for deployment at both military and commercial sites. At present the systems that are either available or in development are: The US Navy's AN/WQX-2, The US Coastguard's Integrated Anti-Swimmer System, DSIT Solution's AquaShield DDS System, QinetiQ's Cerberus, Kongsberg Mesotech's Underwater Surveillance Advanced Diver and Swimmer Detection Sonar Systems, the CodaOctapus Echoscope, Thales' Sea Guardian and Sonardyne's Sentinel.

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