AAPA Says $4 Billion Needed to Protect Ports and Supply Chain Security
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has identified nearly $4 billion in "crucial" port and supply chain security needs over the next decade, according to a new report.
In its "The State of Freight" report, AAPA recommends refocusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) to better meet the security infrastructure needs of publicly-owned commercial seaports and related maritime operations. This includes funding an estimated $2.62 billion in maintenance and upgrades to port security equipment and systems, and another $1.27 billion for investments to tackle cybersecurity, active shooter, drone mitigation, resiliency and other evolving security threats.
Currently, the U.S. government invests $100 million annually in the PSGP to protect resources that account for more than a quarter of the American economy, which is the annual value of cargo and passenger activities attributed to the nation’s ports, said AAPA. While the return on investment is impressive, security challenges at ports keep changing. Since the grant program was initially authorized after 9/11, America’s population has increased about 15 percent, with a pronounced population shift to metropolitan areas, and in many cases near port authority freight and passenger facilities. By the end of 2017, container volumes through the facilities had increased 71 percent and total foreign trade tonnage had increased 37 percent, while cruise passenger traffic nearly doubled.