Safe Harbor

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey tapped IT-services vendor BearingPoint Inc. to help it use technology to safeguard shipping supply chains and marine terminals from terrorist strikes. Under a $13.8 million deal disclosed last week, BearingPoint will manage the Port Authority's participation in the federally funded Operation Safe Commerce. Six private companies, including Sara Lee Corp., have voluntarily subjected their international shipments to scrutiny to find and fix security vulnerabilities that terrorists could exploit by, say, placing a bomb in a container bound for New York City.

BearingPoint will evaluate how tracking technologies such as radio-frequency identification and global positioning systems can be used to help secure cargo in transit, says Jim Havelka, VP of the vendor's global-trade-management practice. "We'll also be looking at ways to better follow the money flows that surround the shipments," he says. BearingPoint will help the Port Authority implement compliance software from RiskWatch Inc. The port authorities for Los Angeles/Long Beach and Seattle/Tacoma are also participating in Operation Safe Commerce, which is funded by the Transportation Security Agency.