Navy chief warns of nuclear bomb in containers
Chief said terrorist may use containers to smuggle N-weapons in country.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Warning of a nuclear threat from the sea, the Indian Navy chief on Wednesday said terrorists may use shipping containers to smuggle nuclear weapons into the country.
���Today 70-75% of global cargo is containerised...container is the most likely means for terrorist organisations for illegal transporting of nuclear weapons and, hence, the serious concerns about container security,��� Admiral Mehta told reporters at a seminar on ���Port Sector, Developments and Security.���
Suggesting that a container must be certified as secure by the country from where it is shipped, he also called for thorough scanning of all containers reaching Indian ports. ���Nuclear is only one aspect of it. We have to ensure 100% security at ports by scanning them (containers) under X-ray machines. Every country has to accede to it that wherever, whichever port the container leaves from, that country certifies that this container is fully secure,��� noted Admiral Mehta.
Currently, there is a container inspection system (CIS) in place only for cargo traffic moving into the US. The CIS uses digital radiography technology for rapid inspection of containers of different sizes as an effective measure for customs to combat smuggling and customs revenue evasion.
The Navy chief insisted that CIS should be used for all traffic moving on sea routes around the world, even as he conceded that, presently, maritime regions were less regulated as compared to the traffic on land.
It was perhaps this lack of surveillance that had given a free passage to the 10 LeT attackers that took the sea route from Karachi to Mumbai for the 26/11 strikes. Talking about greater synergy among the Navy, Coast Guard and port authorities, the Navy chief disclosed that control rooms would be set up in the eastern and western naval command.
���These (control rooms) are the measures we propose for greater co-ordination...that a joint operation centre functions from eastern and western command... We will have a composite control over maritime assets,��� Mehta said.
The control rooms will co-ordinate among eastern command chief, western command chief and director general, Coast Guard. ���It should be integral part of country���s security system,��� he said.
���Today 70-75% of global cargo is containerised...container is the most likely means for terrorist organisations for illegal transporting of nuclear weapons and, hence, the serious concerns about container security,��� Admiral Mehta told reporters at a seminar on ���Port Sector, Developments and Security.���
Suggesting that a container must be certified as secure by the country from where it is shipped, he also called for thorough scanning of all containers reaching Indian ports. ���Nuclear is only one aspect of it. We have to ensure 100% security at ports by scanning them (containers) under X-ray machines. Every country has to accede to it that wherever, whichever port the container leaves from, that country certifies that this container is fully secure,��� noted Admiral Mehta.
Currently, there is a container inspection system (CIS) in place only for cargo traffic moving into the US. The CIS uses digital radiography technology for rapid inspection of containers of different sizes as an effective measure for customs to combat smuggling and customs revenue evasion.
The Navy chief insisted that CIS should be used for all traffic moving on sea routes around the world, even as he conceded that, presently, maritime regions were less regulated as compared to the traffic on land.
It was perhaps this lack of surveillance that had given a free passage to the 10 LeT attackers that took the sea route from Karachi to Mumbai for the 26/11 strikes. Talking about greater synergy among the Navy, Coast Guard and port authorities, the Navy chief disclosed that control rooms would be set up in the eastern and western naval command.
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���These (control rooms) are the measures we propose for greater co-ordination...that a joint operation centre functions from eastern and western command... We will have a composite control over maritime assets,��� Mehta said.
The control rooms will co-ordinate among eastern command chief, western command chief and director general, Coast Guard. ���It should be integral part of country���s security system,��� he said.
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