SCDigest editorial staff

The News: Authorities in Seattle this week arrested 22 people who made it into the port of Seattle hidden in a cargo container arriving from China.

The Impact: If people can get through, what else is possible? The incident may finally trigger greater inspection on either or both sides of container moves.

The Story: 22 people (18 men, four women) from China were arrested at the Port of Seattle this week after merging from a container inbound from Shanghai.

The stowaways were locked in a 40-foot container for 15 days on the ship. They are in federal custody and face possible deportation. Federal authorities are investigating, and as yet no other arrests have been made.

The group was caught after wandering around Seattle’s Terminal 18 for some time. At first, they were mistaken by the security guards for members of a foreign ship's crew. Reports say that when a ship enters Seattle’s port, crew members often wander on foot around the terminal, flouting rules requiring that they be driven from the ship to the gate.

When finally confronted, the group put up no resistance, though some did try to flee. One of the 22 was in fact just feet from the front gate, but voluntarily stopped when asked to by security.

Reports of the incident also make clear that there was not a lot of security infrastructure readily available. The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that the 22 were in fact “captured” by just two security guards with the help of two mechanics on the site. Descriptions of the affair seem to indicate that the group was simply trying to gain access to the U.S. More terrorist-minded stowaways may well have eluded capture.

The container itself was equipped with water bottles, food, blankets and toilet facilities. Interestingly, that specific container had been designated for more specific “special inspection,” for reasons that have not been divulged, but the 22 were all n good shape and escaped before the inspection was performed.

The incident seems likely to trigger renewed calls for improvement in port security overall and greater levels of inspection, now believed to be performed on only about 2% of inbound containers.

Said Senator Patty Murphy of Washington: "That incident is a stark reminder that we are not doing enough to keep our cargo container system secure. This appears to have been a case of human smuggling, but that cargo container could have been filled with anything from a dirty bomb to a cell of terrorists."

Do you think this incident will trigger greater levels of container inspection and security? Is the right place for such inspection at U.S. ports, or the port of origin? And what will be the impact on our already stressed port capacity if it happen? Let us know your thoughts.