Albany has joined a growing list of ports that raised fees to cover security costs stemming from a 2002 federal law intended to protect the nation's ports and waterways from a terrorist attack.
The Albany Port District Commission now charges cargo ships $45 an hour for guards at the terminal when a ship is docked overnight, during a holiday and on weekends, said port General Manager Frank Keane on Tuesday. Since the fees began in July, ship owners have paid about $50,000, he said.
The Maritime Transportation Security Act requires the port to provide security during those periods, when business operations are normally closed. To comply with the law, the port had to hire three additional guards.
The legislation, signed by President Bush in November 2002 after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, affects nearly 360 U.S. ports and all large ships doing business in the nation's ports. Under the new law, the Coast Guard can halt the voyages of ships that do not comply with the regulations and can temporarily shut down ports that lack proper security measures.
In Albany, when ships are at dock, guards man the main security gate and check vehicles and identities of people entering the port, said Timothy Murphy, port director of security and threat assessment.
"Some of the vessels here aren't happy about the extra costs," Keane said. "These costs are being rolled from the port to the carriers, from the carrier to the cargo owner, from the cargo owner to the supplier ... and likely will fall to the consumer in the end."
But the new fees in Albany haven't cost it any business, at least not yet, he said, noting, "In the big scheme of things, the fee doesn't have a big impact."
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, an advocate for stronger port security, said the federal government must help pick up more costs.
"We're glad the Port of Albany/Rensselaer has beefed up security to keep Capital Region residents safe. Because homeland security is a national concern, the federal government should pay for the increased patrols so that the port doesn't have to charge fees," Schumer spokesman Blake Zeff said.
A number of ports nationwide are raising fees to cover increased security costs, according to Rex Sherman, director of research and information for the American Association of Port Authorities, which represents about 150 public port authorities in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.
"This issue is a concern to ports everywhere," Sherman said. Federal aid offered to improve port security covers items like fencing, gates and security cameras, but not security staff.
Albany got a $500,000 federal grant that paid for new perimeter fencing, a closed-circuit television system and a digital identification badge system.
In February, the Port of Charleston became the first port in the country to add a security fee when it imposed a $1-a-foot charge on all vessels, Sherman said.
A group of about 20 ports on the Gulf of Mexico decided in October to impose a uniform security fee starting in April so that no single port would have a competitive advantage over the others, he added.
The California Association of Port Authorities, which represents that state's 11 publicly owned commercial ports, has authorized its members to raise their tariff fees by up to 5 percent to cover increased security costs.
The Port of Albany, which operates terminals in Albany and Rensselaer, serves between 75 and 100 vessels each year and handles about 6.8 million short tons of cargo, far below the major ports. For example, New Orleans handles about 216 million short tons each year. Albany (New York) Times Union