01:20 PM EST on Monday, February 27, 2006

Reported by: Mike Gooding

Who's in charge of security at U.S. seaports?

There's no simple answer to that question -- a critical part of the debate over the takeover of major port operations by a United Arab Emirates company, Dubai Ports World.

CSX Web site

In December 2004, Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX Corporation, which handles a lot of international cargo in Hampton Roads, sold its international operations to the United Arab Emirates-owned Dubai Ports World for $1.15 billion. CSX operates a massive intermodal transportation hub in the city of Portsmouth.

Among CSX’s holdings are 48 U.S. port, rail and truck centers known as intermodal hubs.  The Portsmouth hub may not be the only Dubai Ports World connection here in the future.

Last week, the UAE company became half owner of Norfolk-based marine terminal operation CP&O, which is stevedoring service providing longshoremen to load and offload cargo ships.

Despite the controversy, President George Bush made it clear he believes U.S. port operations will be safe.

"Port security in the United States will be run by U.S. Customs and the United States Coast Guard. The management of some ports which heretofore had been managed by a foreign company will be managed by another company from a foreign land. And so people don't need to worry about security. This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America."

Indeed, the U.S. Coast Guard has had its hands full since September 11. Its expanded role includes watching all ships coming in and out of American waters and assessing security at some 3,000 facilities at more than 360 U.S. ports.

One local maritime security expert defends Dubai Ports World.  Former Naval Station Norfolk commanding officer Joseph Bouchard is now executive director of the Center for Homeland Security and Defense in Hampton.

"Foreign companies dominate international shipping, both steamship lines and port operations and there is no reason to be concerned about Dubai Ports World.”

The Port of Hampton Roads is already one of the East Coast’s busiest, handing a record-setting 1.98 million container units in 2005.  That’s a 9.6 percent increase from 2004.

The shipments come from 75 different international shipping lines which call on the state-run operation’s four cargo terminals.