The port and shipping industry could be at threat after it was found that a fifth of high-risk exports are not screened and could potentially allow terrorists to build weapons of mass destruction, with Canada being a prime location for this type of crime to occur, since its borders are often short staffed and its technology outdated, according to VICE.
Technical Paper: Optimising Port Security: The Effective Use of Surveillance Cameras
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said in a report: “Partly as a response to staffing levels, the counter-proliferation targeting unit had reduced the number of shipments that it had been recommending for examination.
“At one port of exit, no export control examinations were conducted when the assigned border services officer was on vacation.”
Security issues can also affect commercial shipping lines, especially in the areas of cyber security and piracy, with the latter on the increase in Asia.
BIMCO has recently launched cyber security measures which aim to inform commercial shipping lines of cyber security risks and how to best deal with them.
