State governments would issue licenses to America’s 77 million recreational boaters if the nation’s top maritime law enforcer gets his way.
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said the potential for a terrorist attack launched from small boats means that states and the Coast Guard must cooperate better to watch who is on America’s waterways. Though he doesn’t yet have details or formal recommendations for how a national permit system would work, he said he’d like to see boating licenses be similar to motor vehicle driver’s licenses.
Forty-four states now require some kind of mandatory education before boaters can get on the water, but just one – Alabama – oversees boaters with the same rigor it applies to motorists, according to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) of Lexington, Ky.
Allen told a meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures on Dec. 6 he expects resistance to his idea from state lawmakers who don’t want to deal with the cost and details of licensing, and from the multi-billion-dollar boat-building and tourism industries, which don’t want to risk a drop in revenues. (Click here to listen to an excerpt of Allen’s remarks.)
Still, Allen said the debate on licensing has to start somewhere. "I’m trying to stick my toe in the water and see if I get bit by a piranha," he joked.
It hasn’t yet come to that, but the nation’s largest boating advocacy group is wary of the permitting idea.
"Mandatory education is one thing. We’re not opposed to having people take a course. But we wouldn’t want to see it turn into a license that could be restricted or taken away," said Chris Edmonston, director of boating safety for the Boat Owners Association of The United States, commonly known as Boat U.S, based in Alexandria, Va. The driver’s license analogy was not a good start, he said.
"Driving a car is considered a privilege conferred by the state, but boating is considered a right. It gets back to that 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' sort of thing," Edmonston said.
Because there are no formal details and Allen just "wants to create a dialogue," neither the Coast Guard nor boating groups would guess how much it could cost for every state to issue more stringent boat permits. What is certain is Allen’s purpose in calling for licenses: America’s under-supervised waterways are vulnerable to attacks, he said.
The United States already has endured terrorism using small civilian craft, albeit overseas: In 2000, suicide bombers in the port of Aden, Yemen, used an inflatable boat to blow themselves up next to the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole, killing 17 sailors and wounding 39 others.
Terrorism experts point to other ways small boats potentially could assist in attacks – for example, a speedboat could deposit saboteurs at the outlet pipes of a nuclear power plant, or hijackers aboard a cruise ship. In a nightmare scenario, suicide bombers in a crowded harbor could use small watercraft to detonate a tanker carrying ultra-volatile liquefied natural gas, causing a powerful explosion that could kill thousands.
"As good as we get at surveillance, as good as we get at patrolling and creating deterrence out there, sooner or later we’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that we need to know to a greater certainty who are operating boats out there, what boats are out there," Allen said.
At present, state maritime rules and tracking vary widely, said Gail Kulp, educational director of NASBLA. These rules can vary even between states along the same coastline: Maryland, for example, has no age restrictions on who can pilot a recreational boat, but in Virginia, which shares the Chesapeake Bay, operators must be at least 14.
Penalties also vary widely, Kulp said. If people in Florida and Indiana are found to be operating boats under the influence of drugs or alcohol, their motor vehicle driver’s licenses can be suspended. But 39 states do not penalize driver’s licenses for violations on the water. Devising uniform rules and enabling better tracking of boaters will be a priority for the Coast Guard in the coming years, Allen said, along with an appropriate respect for civil rights.
"I can understand as we move towards trying to understand what’s going on out the water, to improve safety and security, there’s a point to which the rights of our citizens need to be prime." he said.
Contact Philip Ewing at pewing@stateline.org.
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By Hal Romberg on Jan 15, 2007 10:20:46 PM
It never ceases to amaze me how people will flock to their leaders out of fear, and beg to have their freedoms restricted. I mean, it's incredible. Nobody with half a brain cell would think licensing boat operators would stop a terrorist, but it'll probably happen anyway just so the folks in charge can say they've done SOMETHING.
The real answer is that freedom isn't free. The cost is that sometimes people will take advantage of our country's openness, and we'll take a hit. However bad the hit, I seriously doubt it would equal the damage inflicted by the laws we passed after 9-11 in our quest for protection from the threat du jour. We just don't want to look at the reality of that. We'd rather give up a little more freedom, even if it doesn't make us any safer, and tell ourselves that we're safe now.
Sometimes I get really frustrated at stuff like this, but mostly it's just sad. Not much to do about it anyway, given the way we've set up our democracy with only two parties. You'd almost think we're getting so used to being led that we don't WANT our freedoms any more. Whatever. I can't change enough minds to make a difference here. I think I'll go sailing.......While I still can.
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Boater Licensing
By Ken Frausel on Jan 12, 2007 11:11:23 AM
What concerns me is the hodgepodge of individual state boater licensing requirements and the apparent lack of reciprocity between the states. I am a veteran sailor having operated a vessel for over 20 years and have made both coastwise and ocean passages. I am a resident of Florida, a state that does not require a boater education certificate, license or document of any kind. My boat is a USCG documented vessel. In my annual cruise North I pass through no less that eleven states. I generally by-pass New Jersey going straight from Norfolk, VA to Block Island, RI. A defined "coastwise" interstate voyage. But New Jersey has recently enacted a boater education law which requires all boaters operating upon New Jersey waters to have passed. Graduates get a completion "certificate" ... a license by another name.
Now, if weather (force majure) forces me to seek a US Coast Guard maintained "harbor of refuge" (which has been created for exactly this circumstance) such as Cape May, New Jersey, can the New Jersey law enforcement authorities lawfully penalize me for entering waters under their jurisdiction without a document which is not required in my state of residence?
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I fail to see how does this even slow down a terrorist?
By Daniel-StateLine.org Linder-StateLine.org on Jan 4, 2007 11:51:52 PM
(This article has been linked to by Bruce Schneiers blog at http://www.schneier.com/blog -- that is how I came across this article. See
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/licensing_boats.html
for our discussion.)
From the first line of article:
"State governments would issue licenses to Americaâs 77 million recreational boaters..."
For a quick sanity check, replace "boaters" with "drivers" (i.e. automobile drivers) in the article.
Note:
* Nearly every one of the 9/11 hijackers had a valid drivers license -- required to board the plane.
* Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City bomber) had a valid drivers license -- required to rent the van.
* Ted Kaczynski (Unibomber) had a Montana drivers license.
Rather than spend millions of dollars are going to spent to put another piece of paper in our wallets, direct them toward designing safer "outlet pipes of a nuclear power plant", re-design doors to prevent or impede "hijackers aboard a cruise ship", or better policing of theft of "ultra-volatile liquefied natural gas"? (All threats mentioned as validations of this proposed legislation.)
Thinking that a little piece of paper in a wallet will magically help weed out the bad guys from our world is delusional.
I agree with the sentiment that boats are every bit as dangerous as cars and should be run by a licensed individual. But please, don't try to make this sound more important by claiming it is related to "Anti-terrorist or National Security" matters.
Dan
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Coast Guard Article
By sybel kimmel on Jan 2, 2007 8:40:26 PM
I find the article on the Coast Guard especially thought provoking. The need for licensing,no doubt,is of concern to homeland security. the Miami area is the most obvious area of recreational and commerce traffic. The article seems to point to the issue. All of your articles are thought provoking.Thank you to your staff.
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