Cruise Ship Security

A new law (formerly H.B. 283) addresses inconsistences between state and federal port security regulations. In 2000, Florida enacted a port security law to address criminal activity in the state’s seaports. However, the federal seaport security standards enacted after the 9-11 attacks, preempted some aspects of the state’s provisions. The ports were also duplicating their efforts on some measures.

When most people think about small watercraft, they probably think fondly of good times and activities like waterskiing or fishing. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), however, thinks of how easy it would be for an attacker to weaponize one of these innocent-looking vessels, as was done in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.