The security of merchant shipping

Since the destruction of the World Trade Center the attention of the United States and the wider international community has focussed upon the need to strengthen security and prevent terrorism. Numerous measures have been introduced to this end, some of which address the security of transportation in general and shipping in particular. This paper draws attention to the more significant of these measures and the circumstances surrounding their introduction. It concludes with a discussion of the challenge that assuring the security of merchant shipping now presents.