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Issue No. 217 | 23 April 2004 |
Textor Messaging
Interview: Terror Australis Unions: Graeme Beard's Second Dig Industrial: The Hell of Troy Organising: Miners Strike Gold Economics: The Accepted Wisdom History: Vicious Old Lady International: Out of Sight, Out of Mind Review: War Unfogged Poetry: TAFE
Feared Beard in Shipping Scare Mayday � Footy Player Celebrates Teachers Roll Up for Discipline
Postcard The Soapbox The Locker Room Politics
Labor Council of NSW |
News Feared Beard in Shipping Scare
The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies warns that lax security and widespread fraud mean that the al Qaeda network could infiltrate the ranks of the world's 1.2 million seafarers. "It will be relatively easy for al Qaeda to have their agents pose as seafarers and at some point take command of a ship," Institute spokesperson Michael Richardson told participants at a maritime seminar. The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) demonstrated how easily fake papers for crew members can be bought when it bought a First Officer's certificate from Panama in 2001 for its General Secretary David Cockroft, who has no shipboard training or experience. "The flag of convenience (FOC) system allows potential terrorists into our waters," says the International Transport Federation's Dean Summers. "I think its generally accepted everywhere in the world now, that al Qaeda, Bin Laden and a whole range of other terrorist organizations around the world get a lot of money from piracy and from running ships." Summers says that, according to the international security community, around 20 vessels are run by al Qaeda. "They cannot identify the beneficial owners," says Summers. "Why? Because one of the key features of the FOC system is that it provides owners with absolute anonymity." "There could be vessels in our ports right now that are beneficially owned by terrorist organisations." Richardson said modern ships are highly automated and can be operated by crews of fewer than 20. This means it would take a small number of well-trained terrorists to seize command of a big ship and turn it into a floating bomb. Singapore has warned that recent piracy attacks in the narrow Malacca Straits have been conducted with almost military precision and fears links have already been developed between pirates and terrorists operating in the region.
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