Posted on Wed, Aug. 23, 2006

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Officials tout security of Georgetown's port

By Zane Wilson

The Sun News

GEORGETOWN - After the latest global terrorism scare, port security was again a hot topic, but people don't have to worry about the port of Georgetown, those responsible for its safety say.

"I think it's right for everyone to be concerned," said Cmdr. Tom Allan of the Charleston-based Coast Guard contingent that oversees port security.

The disclosure earlier this month that British agents had uncovered a plot to blow up airplanes that were flying between England and the U.S. brought the issue of travel security to the forefront again.

But the concern for ports is with the large containers of cargo that arrive at ports such as Charleston, Allan said. Georgetown does not handle container cargo.

"We've never had an incident in Georgetown from a port security standpoint," Allan said.

What might be stashed in a cargo container is a main security concern, said State Ports Authority spokesman Byron Miller.

At Georgetown, "the cargo is much more predictable, the contents are known," Miller said, unlike "sealed metal boxes that all look the same."

Much of Georgetown's incoming traffic is salt and cement, and both the steel and paper mills ship products out.

Still, the port has changed significantly since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Once an open place that anyone could walk or drive into, it now has metal fences around it and separate ones around major facilities such as the salt and cement storage domes.

Concrete barriers are placed to prevent people from driving around spots such as the guard gate. A sheriff's deputy is at the guard gate every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and any time a ship is in the port.

Anyone who wants to get onto the facility must show photo identification and is subject to a search.

Photos of the port, activities there and ships docked are no longer allowed.

The ports authority is notified weeks in advance of a ship's arrival and its cargo and crew. An interagency port security group that meets every day in Charleston goes over the information and decides if any action is needed.

Most ships are met by the Coast Guard in the ocean outside Winyah Bay, and may be boarded to have their cargo or crew checked.

Often, there are crew members who are not allowed to get off the ship. The Coast Guard won't talk about details, but it isn't always because of security concerns, Allan said. Sometimes it is a concern that the crew member might seek to enter the country illegally to live here.

Those who do get off the ship are screened and cleared by customs and immigration agents.

The port has spent about $1 million on security in the past few years, and there are more measures to come, Port Director David Schronce said. He would not provide details.

Part of the port security money pays for the sheriff's deputies who guard the Georgetown facility.

"Basically, it's off-duty work for the deputies," said Georgetown County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Neil Johnson. No one is required to serve at the port, and usually enough people want the extra money to fill the slots.

Johnson said the steel mill, which has its own dock, has its own security system as well but if a ship comes in that has crew members who are not allowed off, the Sheriff's Office is called and must send someone to stand guard.

Allan credited much of the procedure that has resulted in safety so far to the interagency security group. It was an idea advanced by former U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings of Charleston, a key advocate of port security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.