BALTIMORE – The Coast Guard, along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Maryland Transportation Authority Police and Transportation Security Administration worked together today in a multi-agency security operation at the Maryland Port Administration’s Dundalk Marine Terminal to maintain port security and compliance with state and federal regulations.
“We try to conduct a lot of inspections in the Port of Baltimore with our port partners to develop and maintain relationships with them,” said Lt. Marie Castillo-Bletso of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore. “One of our core missions is prevention, therefore, we work to protect the public and give them peace of mind to know that we are out and about protecting our ports.”
The joint operation involved Transportation Worker Identification Card verification as well as random vehicle inspections to ensure the security of the port. The coordination between agencies allows for each group to use their individual jurisdictions together to create a more comprehensive security check.
The TWIC program is a security measure enforced at ports nationwide by the Coast Guard and works to ensure that individuals who pose a threat do not gain unescorted access to secure areas of the maritime transportation system. The Port of Baltimore has enforced full TWIC compliance since April 15, 2009.
