David Morgan
Reuters
Friday, December 8, 2006

Dubai Ports World, the Arab-owned firm whose purchase of American port facilities caused a U.S. political uproar, will join a program aimed at stopping nuclear weapons being smuggled into the United States, sources familiar with the agreement said on Thursday.

The program would involve screening U.S.-bound cargo for radiation at more than half a dozen ports including in Britain, Honduras, Oman and South Korea, sources said.

Dubai Ports World is among several international shipping and port operators chosen for the screening program mandated by the Safe Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006, legislation that resulted from the Dubai Ports controversy.

An announcement was expected on Thursday afternoon from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy and the State Department.

Asked about the program, a Homeland Security spokesman said only that Secretary Michael Chertoff planned to speak publicly about a new initiative to strengthen the international supply chain.

The sources described the initiative as the first phase of a broader effort to screen cargo for radiation.

The SAFE Port Act authorizes $3.4 billion over five years for safety measures, including installing radiation detectors at the 22 largest U.S. ports by the end of next year.

Port operators, which are expected to participate in the program by providing customs officials with space and access to their facilities, include A.P. Moeller-Maersk, PSA International and Hutchison Whampoa.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Nike Inc. were expected to be among participating shippers, sources said.

Dubai Ports, owned by the United Arab Emirates, became the center of a bitter debate in Congress after buying assets at six U.S. ports within its $6.8 billion purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. in February.

The Bush administration approved the purchase of facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans. But lawmakers had security concerns about an Arab state-owned company running U.S. port terminals.

Dubai Ports responded by saying it would sell those U.S. assets. No sale has yet been announced.

David Sanborn, Dubai Ports World's managing director for the Americas, has sharply criticized the U.S. port-security law as fundamentally inadequate.

Sanborn, whom President George W. Bush once nominated to head the U.S. Maritime Administration, told a security conference in October that the law did not go far enough to require radiation screening.

Sanborn withdrew his name from consideration for the Maritime Administration post amid the uproar over Dubai Ports.

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