Ships and ports unprepared for deadly terrorist strikes from sea

TERROR strikes from the sea could be even more catastrophic than those from the air, intelligence officials say. They fear a hijacked oil tanker could be rigged with explosives or a radioactive dirty bomb could be smuggled ashore in a shipping container.

But almost 5,000 ships and about four out of every five of American ports, ferry terminals and fuel-chemical tank farms failed to meet a Wednesday deadline for submitting security plans showing how they will deal with those potential threats.

Security measures to prevent attacks at seaports and inland waterways have fallen far behind efforts to protect airports and airplanes since the 2001 terrorist attacks.