Forum 1 - Chapters 1 & 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forum 1 - Chapters 1 & 2 - Assignment Example Economic dependency on maritime transportation refers to how a given country relies on maritime transportation as the countries’ main source of economic empowerment. The US has a 14% adjacency of its counties to the coastline and ends up generating a staggering 45% of the nations’ gross domestic product (GDP) and an average of 3 million jobs. A point that goes to prove how dependent we can be on maritime transportation for economic development (GAO-12-1009T, 2012). The maritime transportation security act was enacted by congress and signed into law by the then American president on November 25th, 2002 (S.3639, 2010). This law requires port facilities and vessels to carry out threat vulnerability assessments and come up with well developed and thought through security plans that is inclusive of passengers, vehicles and baggage screening parameters as well as establishing restricted areas, identification procedures and advanced surveillance systems (PUBLIC LAW, 2002). This compliance of this security act has resulted in the creation of a secure environment in the ports. The department of homeland security (DHS) is the lead agency responsible for the implementation of maritime transportation security act with the help of subsidiary bodies like the U.S, coast guard. The security act can be attributed to a number of challenges that include acquiring security port facility and vessels, a more interconnected port system with regard to new technologies and a much heightened international supply chain security. The maritime security act has also undergone challenges in program implementation and management, poor partnerships and collaboration, terrorism and funding (CRS Report for Congress, 2007). CRS Report for Congress. (2007, May 14). Maritime Security: Potential Terrorist Attacks and Protection Priorities. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from CRS Report for Congress: