TDC Security Alert: Suspicious Activity Surrounding Washington State Ferries

23 August 2007: A TDC security alert is highlighting an FBI request for public help in identifying the two men both "passengers" aboard Washington State ferries on several recent occasions. The men showed a high level of interest in security vulnerabilities of the boats. Pictures of the men are available at http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/WAFerry082107.

Both men were seen on more then one ferry and more than one run over the past several weeks, taking photos of strategic areas and specific parts of the boat and engaging in other acts that aroused the suspicions of both passengers and crews. The FBI wants to identify two men who reportedly rode as many as six different ferry routes in recent weeks -- taking photos of doorways and going to areas of the boats where passengers don't normally go -- and is asking the public to help.

In a rare move, the federal agency has released photographs of the men taken by a ferry employee. The FBI hopes to determine whether the men are innocent passengers or possible terrorists.

Employees and passengers reported the incidents over several weeks this summer. In at least one instance, they asked questions about ferry operations. Since then, the FBI has concluded "four to six" of the incidents were related and involved the same two men.

Several other similar incidents were reported, but analysts could not conclude they involved the same men. One ferry employee was so suspicious that he snapped photographs of the two standing at the rail of a ferry. The FBI would not say exactly when the photos were taken or which boat they were taken on. Note: During TDC training we often emphasize to take pictures of suspicious individuals to aid in any follow up investigation.

Anyone who knows the identity of the men shown in the images above is asked to call the FBI at (206) 622-0460. Ferries have been identified as top potential maritime terrorist targets, and numerous incidents of surveillance by men - mostly of Middle Eastern appearance - have been reported over the last few years.

The Washington ferry system moves more than 26 million passengers and 11 million vehicles a year and is the largest ferry system in the country. It was singled out by the Department of Justice inspector general as one of the top two maritime terrorist targets in the country. The other is oil-tanker traffic along the Gulf Coast.

Ahmed Ressam, an al-Qaida-trained terrorist convicted of conspiring to set off a bomb at the Los Angeles International Airport during the Millennium celebration, was captured in December 1999 coming off a privately owned ferry in Port Angeles from Victoria, B.C. The trunk of his rental car was filled with bomb-making materials.

In the spring of 2004, the FBI conducted a threat assessment of the ferry system and concluded that terrorists were conducting "pre-operational planning" for an attack. The assessment was based on a review of 157 suspicious incidents over nearly three years. Analysts concluded that 19 of them were likely or extremely likely to have involved terrorist surveillance.

Three of the incidents in the threat-assessment analysis of ferries involved a man who is the subject of the FBI investigation.

On Sept. 25, 2003, ferry employees reported they had seen "four Middle Eastern males videotaping the car deck and surroundings" while on board the ferry Cathlamet on its run from Mukilteo to Clinton. One of the men was later identified as "the subject of an FBI terrorism investigation," the report said. The four men were in a rented van with California plates.

The next morning, that man, this time with two companions and driving the same van, drew the suspicions of employees on the ferry Puyallup on its way from Edmonds to Kingston. This time, they videotaped loading and unloading procedures, the report said.

Ferry employees approached the men, who said they were taking the "scenic route back to California on Highway 101." While two men talked, ferry workers told investigators a "third Middle Eastern male was standing nearby and was visibly trembling."

The subject of the terrorist investigation also was spotted just two days after Sept. 11, 2001, videotaping a number of nonferry locations -- all on the same day. They included the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes, flight operations at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and the bridge at Deception Pass State Park, according to the report, which listed that sighting as an incident in the analysis even though no ferry was involved.

Five other incidents also were ranked as extremely likely to involve terrorist surveillance:

On June 24, 2002, ferry employees reported that four clean-cut, well-dressed middle-aged men "presumed to be of Arabic descent" took consecutive round trips on the Edmonds / Kingston run aboard the ferry Spokane. The men took notes as they walked around the ferry and one talked on his cell phone, the report said.

That incident prompted a ‘fleet advisory’ instructing crew members to be on the lookout for suspicious activities, according to news reports at the time.

On Nov. 30, 2002, a State Patrol trooper on board the ferry Puyallup on the Edmonds / Kingston run said he noticed two Middle Eastern men, accompanied by a woman with three children, videotaping on the top passenger deck. Both men had cameras and one of them was talking on a cell phone.

The analysis said the group left the ferry in a vehicle registered to a man linked to subjects of two FBI terrorism investigations.

On April 4 2004, a passenger saw four men, described as East Indian or Pakistani, videotaping from an Argosy cruise boat. One was later identified as a member of a group suspected of surveilling Washington ferries. On other occasions, he was seen watching the Coast Guard pier and videotaping in the Seattle bus tunnel, the report said.

On April 22, a passenger on the Seattle / Bremerton ferry run told the Coast Guard that two men were taking video and still photographs of the interior of the ferry, the report said. After about 10 minutes, one of the men spoke on a cell phone "in a foreign language."

"At the conclusion of the call," according to the report, one man turned to the other and said, in broken English, " 'We have to go get pictures of the front of the boat.' "

The passenger alerted ferry employees, but by then the boat had docked and the men were gone.

On May 10, a State Patrol trooper noticed a man at the Mukilteo ferry terminal dropping off two briefcases at a business and then asking a ferry ticket agent about a sightseeing trip to Whidbey Island. The man was "driving [a car] registered to a person ... associated with the subject of an FBI terrorism investigation," the report said.

The most recent incidents are similar to the 19, but that analysts have not been able to draw the same conclusions because of a lack of information.

Following the 2004 threat assessment, the Coast Guard required the State Patrol to increase the number of vehicles it screens, mostly through the use of explosive-sniffing dogs. Even so, the number of cars, trucks and vans screened going onto the boats remains a fraction of the total. Walk-on ferry passengers are not screened and do not undergo any security check.

• Related Incidents

While the Washington State ferry system has had an unusual amount of suspicious activity, our TDC analysts have documented other suspicious activity in recent years surrounding ferries. While conducting vessel security assessments in 2004 of ferries in the New York area we documented similar reports of suspicious activities including photographing of the pilot house, charts, restricted areas, critical energy infrastructure along the routes and questions concerning ferry operations by men of Middle Eastern appearance. We have also received several unconfirmed reports of threats involving ferries operating in NYC waters. In February of 2004 the Manila Super Ferry in the Philippines suffered a bombing attack that killed over 100 passengers. The explosion started a fire that left the ship grounded and completely destroyed. Authorities have since blamed the bombing on a member of an Islamic separatist group with ties to Al Qaeda.

Ferry operators and security officers should review these incidents with their employees and security personnel. Additional security protective measures are available from numerous sources including DHS, and the Washington State Ferry authorities. TDC is available to conduct awareness training and security assessments, please contact us at: jtenaglia@tdconcepts.com / telephone 732-267-6046.