US Mulls Coastal Security in Wake of Mumbai

The recent terrorist attack in Mumbai has US officials redoubling efforts to secure America’s coastline, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The Coast Guard is planning to increase security by issuing ID cards to workers and installing transponders on boats to keep track of activity in US waters. But some in the boating industry think regulation could sink their business.

The planned measures, which could go into effect next year, echo the security overhaul of the airline industry after Sept. 11. “It's just to take that system and make it wet,” a Coast Guard admiral said. But the small boating industry, which claims a high degree of self-regulation, is wary. “When you lay on all the other costs of regulation, it becomes onerous,” the president of an industry group said. (More terrorism stories.)