Report of the DHS National Small Vessel Security Summit

Presented at the meeting on National Small Vessel Security, held in Arlington, VA, on 19-20 Jun 2007. Task no. RP07-12-01.

The purpose of the National Small Vessel Security Summit (NSVSS) was to engage private, commercial and government stakeholders in discussions on a range of issues involving the security risks posed by small vessels in the U.S. maritime domain, including those risks involving international arrivals. The NSVSS brought together approximately 260 invited stakeholders and federal observers on June 19-20, 2007, at the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, to begin a dialogue and share one another's concerns about small vessel operations, safety, and security. The objectives of the Summit were to: (1) Educate small vessel stakeholders on security risks in the U.S. maritime domain. (2) Provide a national forum for small vessel stakeholders to present and discuss their ideas on the development of security measures to mitigate gaps in small vessel management and control in the maritime domain. (3) Provide a national forum for state and local government officials, as well as private members of the small vessel population, to discuss transportation concerns regarding security threats and present their ideas towards addressing those threats. (4) Record all issues and concerns from the small vessel stakeholders, and complete an after-action report for public, industry, and government to support conclusions for national-level decisions involving the development of small vessel security measures to detect, deter, interdict, and defeat terrorist use of small vessels in the U.S. maritime domain.