Shippers fight Sail Only if Scanned legislation
Congress is moving to enact a bill prohibiting the arrival in U.S. ports of ships not scanned for WMD; shippers say the bill will cripple business
Shipper and ship owners are intensifying their campaign against a bill — called Sail Only if Scanned — making its way through Congress which calls for every U.S.-bound container to be scanned. Christopher Koch, president and CEO of the World Shipping Council (WSC), an organization representing most of the big liner companies, has written to Peter King (R-New York), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, warning of the devastating consequences if the legislative proposal gets on to the statute book. Should the Bill become law, “it would cripple American commerce and almost certainly cause significant conflict with foreign governments,” Koch wrote.
The WSC says that, instead, the United States should look at alternatives such as the Integrated Container Inspection System being pioneered in Hong Kong.
