Cruise Ships and Ferries of Particular Concern
By Wes Starratt
Published: December, 2002
The Port of San Francisco has security concerns that are much more varied and complex than almost any other port, encompassing not only a variety of maritime cargo terminals, but much, much more including the dramatically increasing cruise ship activity (that will soon necessitate the construction of a new cruise ship terminal), world-famous tourist attractions such as Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, major public access facilities such as Pac Bell Park, renowned structures like the Ferry Building, a commuter ferry terminal that is expected to grow dramatically as the regional ferry system comes into being, excursion boat terminals, a commercial fishing harbor and fish processing terminal, a ship repair yard and dry dock, lay berths for Maritime Administration vessels, the strategically important western anchorage of the Bay Bridge, two major power plants, and numerous public waterfront piers and promenades.
Furthermore, the Port's security problems, which are already broad, diverse, and significant, are expected to increase with the construction of new projects such as the James R. Herman International Cruise Terminal at Piers 30/32, a waterfront recreation project at Piers 27/31, an expansion of the Pier 45 fish processing center, and the further development of the southern waterfront.
Executive Port Director, Douglas F. Wong, points out that, "The Port of San Francisco, like most ports across the country, is facing the challenges of providing unprecedented security requirements throughout its waterfront." And that waterfront comprises 1000 acres of property, stretching 7½ miles along an urban bay-front adjacent to densely populated commercial and residential areas.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced a Port Security Grants program to finance security assessments and security enhancement programs. The Port of San Francisco submitted an application, and this summer was awarded a $500,000 grant by the recently organized Transportation Security Administration to conduct a comprehensive port security analysis and assessment that would enable the Port to evaluate its security concerns and identify appropriate mitigation measures. The Port is currently in the process of selecting a qualified firm to undertake the program, which will lead to an assessment of critical security problems and enable the Port to participate in the upcoming second round of federal grants to strengthen port security.
Not waiting for the results of the assessment, the Port has been increasing perimeter security, particularly at cargo terminals, and working closely with the San Francisco Police Department's Marine Unit and the Coast Guard to protect navigable channels. In addition the Port is seeking to restrict access to the all of its terminals, including ferry terminals, with improved signage, gates, and fences. The Port has joined the Coast Guard's Port Security Committee to review issues affecting the Bay Area's ports and terminals, and is holding security briefings with concerned groups to meet the requirements of the Coast Guard's Terminal Security Guidelines.
Of all the facilities on the San Francisco waterfront, the Coast Guard has expressed particular concern for the ferries and the cruise ship terminal, where passengers are already subject to baggage-screening procedures not unlike those encountered at airports. That security screening program is expected to intensify as the number of cruise ships using the Port of San Francisco continues to grow. The Port has also increased the number of guards and the surveillance at the cruise terminal, particularly at the height of the season.
Coast Guard Commander Jeff Saine of the Marine Safety Office stresses that, "Two of our primary concerns along the San Francisco waterfront are the cruise ship and the ferry terminals. Yes, there is concern that there could be an incident on a ferry, and we have reason to believe that there has been some surveillance of ferry systems in this country. So, for some time, we have been having our armed and uniformed sea marshals riding the ferries on a random basis. They have been very well received by the ferries and by the passengers. We are also working with the Port Security Committee to identify shortfalls and mitigations to heighten security awareness. The ferry operators, the Water Transit Authority (WTA), and other concerned groups and organizations have been participating. However, no one has yet suggested screening ferry passengers and their carry-on items, although passengers are being advised not to leave packages unattended and sweeps are being made of ferries after each trip to dispose of items left behind … so evidently no more lost and found!"
In reality, it appears that, until recently, there has been relatively little concern for ferry security. In fact, the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority (WTA), established before 9/11, has never received a legislative directive from the state on passenger ferry security. Mary Culnane, WTA's Manager of Marine Engineering, reported that, "We put in and tried to get a federal grant for a maritime security study. Our first request was rejected, but we will be putting in a bid for a grant to do an assessment of ferry security in the next round of federal grants.
"Starting the first of January, WTA expects to convene monthly meetings with all of the ferry boat people, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the emergency response staffs in the Bay Area to develop an emergency response program. Most of the ferry operators are already addressing security issues, and I understand that Captain David Clark has already put together a comprehensive plan for the Golden Gate Ferries."
Captain Clark, Manager of the Ferry Division of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District reported to us that, "The primary thing that we are doing is preparing and submitting security plans to the Coast Guard and then implementing them. I do not want to be too specific, but we are reviewing our policies and establishing new procedures and working closely with the Coast Guard. In short, our security plans are under development."
Port security continues to be a matter of increasing concern, and the Bay Area's passenger ferries are a part of it. But, even greater efforts are being made to develop security plans for vehicular ferries such as those operating on Puget Sound and at the Port of Seattle.
A Short History of the Port of San Francisco
By Wes Starratt
The histories of the Port of San Francisco and the City of San Francisco are intertwined. Both were located where they are and exist because of the great bay of San Francisco, which has often been referred to as "one of the largest and safest land-locked harbors in the world."
San Francisco Bay joins the ocean at a low point in the coastal hills that the early Spanish explorers called la boca, or the mouth. But la boca is only a little over a mile wide and well hidden from the sea by coastal cliffs and fog. So well camouflaged is it that, for some 200 years, Spanish and English explorers, including Sir Francis Drake, sailed right by without ever seeing it or the great bay beyond.
It took a land-based expedition in 1769 under the command of Gaspar de Portola to finally discover the bay. News of the discovery led to the 1775 expedition of Don Manuel de Ayala, whose ship, the San Carlos, became the first to sail through la boca and drop anchor in San Francisco Bay. One year later, in 1776, the same year that the British colonies on the Atlantic coast were proclaiming their independence from England, another land-based expedition established Spanish military presence at the Presidio near the entrance to the Bay and, some miles away, church presence at Mission Dolores. The mission was dedicated to Saint Francis, the patron saint of the Franciscan Order, by Padre Junipero Serra who is said to have proclaimed that "this is the port to which the saint has led us!"
Between the mission and the presidio was Yerba Buena Cove, the landing for annual Spanish supply ships from Mexico, which was largely the extent of trade until about 1820 when California came under control of an independent Mexico. Trade restrictions were then relaxed, and trading ships, many from Boston, became frequent visitors to San Francisco Bay, exchanging merchandise for hides and tallow from the California ranchos. Still, the solitude of Yerba Buena changed little until the dramatic events between 1846 and 1849 completely transformed the entire region.
First, there was the short-lived war with Mexico, culminating in a party from the U.S. Navy's sloop-of-war, Portsmouth, raising the American flag over the plaza, known today as Portsmouth Square, and claiming the territory for the United States. A year later, the name Yerba Buena was changed to San Francisco, then a village of 50 or more buildings with almost 400 inhabitants located on a shallow cove. Not long after, U.S. Army officer John Fremont is credited with giving the prophetic name "Golden Gate" to la boca, the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
The next dramatic event to take place was the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, leading to the gold rush of 1849 when hordes of gold-seekers on hundreds of ships literally poured into the Bay. During the year 1849, it is reported that more than 500 sailing ships carrying 40,000 passengers passed through the Golden Gate.
The Bay became filled with sailing ships at anchor, since ship berthing and docking facilities were unable to cope with the onslaught. A year before, a pier had been built near the corner of Broadway and Battery streets. Then, a commercial wharf was built near the foot of Pacific Street. Soon there were other wharves, such as the Central Wharf at the foot of Commercial Street, and another one at the foot of Broadway. Still, other piers were extended into the Bay, reaching out to waiting ships. Thus began the early history of the San Francisco waterfront…filling the original cove and pushing wharves out to deep water over an expanse of tidal flats, with cross streets built on piles among rotting hulks of ships.
As gold mining began to wane, economic growth continued and, before long, disenchanted miners turned to developing California's agricultural resources. An increasing number of vessels from the East Coast and Europe began calling at San Francisco to load wheat and barley.
Since the founding of the State of California in 1849 and for many years to come, San Francisco was California's only commercial port and the state's sole gateway to the outside world. Other than a trickle of cargo carried by overland stages, the majority of commerce to and from the state passed through the Golden Gate. But San Francisco's mish-mash of piers and wharves was completely inadequate to meet California's demands. There was a need to bring order out of chaos and build adequate port facilities.
Because of the port's economic importance to the state, the California State Legislature stepped in, and in 1863 established a Board of State Harbor Commissioners to manage the Port of San Francisco. Between 1867 and 1914, the state board spent over $120 million on harbor improvements, including the construction of a six-mile-long stone seawall from a point near Aquatic Park to the Third Street Channel at China Basin. Sand dunes were leveled and dumped onto the intervening mud flats where San Francisco's Financial District now exists. At the same time, finger piers were extended from the sea wall out into the Bay, and railroad connections were built to serve the port's maritime operations. The result is largely what we know today as the San Francisco Embarcadero.
The state board controlled activities on the San Francisco waterfront for over one hundred years until 1969 when the City of San Francisco regained control of its waterfront and established the Port of San Francisco as a city department.
The first transcontinental railroad reached the Bay Area in 1868, dramatically changing the flow of commerce. For the first time, passengers and goods could arrive by effective overland service, and the Golden Gate was no longer California's only gateway. The terminus of the railroad was on the eastern shore of the Bay, requiring barges and ferries for the final stage of the journey to the West's business and population center, the City of San Francisco. Thus, began the age of the San Francisco ferries, culminating in a fleet of some 60 ferries, the world's largest, and the construction of the Ferry Building in 1898. The ferries, a major activity at the Port of San Francisco until supplanted by the bridges, are once again returning in the form of a regional system of high-speed vessels.
Wartime activities have had a strong impact on the Port of San Francisco. The Spanish American War of 1898 gave the port a new role, that of the country's foremost military base on the West Coast. The impact of World War II was even more dramatic, with almost every pier and wharf involved in military activities. Both wars served as to dramatically increase Pacific trade, which continues today.
The containerized cargo-handling revolution of the 1960s had a profound impact on shipping worldwide, facilitating the movement of cargo from ships to trucks and trains, substantially reducing handling the costs, and creating an increased movement of cargo worldwide. San Francisco's finger piers proved inadequate for container handling, and new facilities with sufficient backup land for the handling and storage of containers were built on the Southern Waterfront, as well as bulk and break-bulk cargo facilities.
Today, San Francisco's Northern Waterfront, highlighted by a refurbished Ferry Building with its magnificent plaza and a broad Embarcadero, continues to provide maritime services to fishing boats, tugs, pilot boats, ferries, excursion boats, and an increasing number of cruise ships. Non-shipping activities are highlighted by the world-famous Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, which attract tourists and conventioneers to the City in increasing numbers from throughout the world.
