Haiti unable to meet international port-security deadlines

[seemslikeadream]

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

Knight Ridder Newspapers


(KRT) - It has been a decade-long routine: Munir Mourra loads up his 200-foot freighter at the Miami River with used cars, old clothes, and sacks of rice and beans, winds out to sea and sails to Haiti's northern city of Gonaives.

The river is Mourra's lifeline, a vital link between Haitians here and their relatives back home.

But come July 1, Mourra may no longer be able to make that four-day voyage or his claim to "guarantee timely delivery." He fears Haiti's ports will be unable to meet new international security standards by that deadline.

The fast-approaching requirement is the subject of serious concern in the $74 billion Florida shipping industry. Pushed by the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, the measure was passed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization in December 2002. Its goal is to prevent terrorism at sea by tightening security at all ports and on board all vessels.

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