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Panama, Chile, U.S. Plan to Protect the Panama Canal

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030602-09

Release Date: 6/2/2003 6:49:00 PM

By Lt. j.g. Ligia Cohen, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Panama (NNS) -- Spearheaded by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO), a team of U.S., Chilean and Panamanian naval experts finalized in late May, the first coalition plan to protect the Panama Canal against terrorist threats.

"We are pioneers," said Capt. Basil J. Read, COMUSNAVSO operations department head. "This is the first time that nations of this hemisphere have come together to ensure the security of a critical asset in the region."

Connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Panama Canal is perhaps the most crucial piece of infrastructure supporting the free flow of trade and goods in the Western hemisphere. The economy and stability of the region largely depends on the safe transport of the more of 235 million tons of cargo that transits through the canal every year.

"The transit of our exports and imports through the Panama Canal is of vital importance for our country," said Capt. Victor Ruiz, chief of the Chilean delegations. "We are very interested in supporting any initiative to protect it."

The plan is built on a "layered defense" concept, supplementing the resources already used by the Panamanian government to protect the canal. This concept integrates air, surface, land, space and time into overlapping zones of protection. The outer zone consists of a multinational naval force operating in international waters. In the middle zone, the Panamanian National Maritime Service bridges blue water forces with the Panamanian Public Forces, while the Panama Canal Authority at the center retains ultimate responsibility for the safe operation of the Panama Canal and the protection of its critical infrastructure.

"The goal of 'layered defense' protection is to establish different rings of security, thus compounding the difficulty for attacks to the Panama Canal while enhancing the forces' ability to respond at the earliest time," said Cmdr. William Clark, COMUSNAVSO theater plans officer.

To succeed while operating in a "layered defense," the multinational forces must harmonize rules of engagement, use a shared doctrine, incorporate technology, exchange intelligence and integrate assets to efficiently conduct the mission.

"The concept of the operation is to promote interoperability among the nations with critical interests in the Panama Canal," said Lt. Cmdr. Paul Bahrs, COMUSNAVSO exercise director. "The coalition units will have the task to work together to identify, monitor and intercept vessels suspected of posing a threat to the canal."

The current plan will be tested for the first time this summer in PANAMAX 2003, a training operation for the defense of the Panama Canal. PANAMAX 2003 is a scenario-driven exercise that brings naval forces from the three nations to work together to evaluate the concepts developed.