Invest securely
The American Association of Port Authorities has presented the latest report in its infrastructure series, ‘The State of Freight’. It comes as no surprise that it has called for state investment – the amount and the focus are somewhat different this time, however.
We are used to lobbyists and their style. Having described the catastrophic state of the dismal present of an absolutely essential industry, the group then tends to follow up with the urgent and immediate recommendation to the public purse to invest adequate funds from the current budget and thus ensure a golden future for the sector concerned.
The script the interest group American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) presented recently in its latest assessment of the port industry, ‘The State of Freight’, deviated from this scenario in many a point, however.
Focus on security
This report from the AAPA, which is headquartered in Alexandria VA, just outside the US capital city of Washington DC, is its fourth in ‘The State of Freight’ series. It sees the AAPA ascertain that there is a need for nigh-on USD 4 billion in investment over the next ten years.
The body has focused less on the classic tools required to handle goods, but rather on ports and supply chains’ security needs. That funding level has been established on the basis of what is needed to maintain and upgrade the USA’s port facilities and ensure they are properly equipped to address new and evolving security challenges.
What does this mean in detail? The AAPA report recommends refocusing the US emergency management agency’s port security grant programme (PSGP). This includes funding an estimated USD 2.62 billion in maintenance and upgrade measures for port security equipment and systems, as well as USD 1.27 billion in investment to tackle ‘ other evolving security threats’ including active shooter and drone mitigation action, as well as cyber-security and resiliency measures.
PSGP triggered by 9 / 11
The grant programme, which was initially authorised after 9 / 11, is currently far more modest. The government now invests just about USD 100 million annually in the PSGP to protect the nation’s ports.
The AAPA believes this is far too little, especially when the annual value of cargo and passenger activities attributed to the country’s gateways is considered. The AAPA states that these activities account for more than a quarter of US economy.
On top of this the security challenges facing ports are changing too. The US population has grown by about 15% since 2001; container volumes to the end of 2017 had increased by 71%, the country’s foreign trade tonnage by 37%, and cruise passenger traffic has nearly doubled.
AAPA president and CEO Kurt Nagle pointed out that “we’ve found that PSGP appropriations need to increase four-fold to USD 400 million a year, and that the ratio of grant funds going to ports needs to at least double to 50% to properly mitigate the security threats.”