The security of U.S. ports in the age of terrorism grabbed people's attention in February when a Dubai company tried to buy a British firm and take control of six American ports.

The furor and public interest evaporated, however, when the Dubai company sold the U.S. operations to an American firm.

Since then, port security has been less a priority than the safety of airports and airline passengers.

Now, five years after al-Qaida took down the World Trade Center, security gaps at 361 ports on U.S. coasts remain the biggest holes in the country's safety net.

Plans to fill those holes have been bogged down in a yearlong squabble in Congress. The debate has broken down into bipartisan bickering over which party, the Democratic or the Republican, will keep you safer and who's to blame for blocking progress.

Meanwhile, the ports stay porous.

"It's just a question of time before terrorists with potentially more destructive weapons breach the superficial security measures that have been put in place to protect the ports, the ships and the millions of intermodal containers that link global producers to consumers," Stephen Flynn, a former White House official and terrorism expert, told Congress.

Flynn, and other experts and researchers from around the world, will discuss port security tomorrow and Tuesday at the first international conference on port security and marine transportation, which will be held at the University of Rhode Island.

One of the focuses will be the effect a terrorist attack on a U.S. port would have on world trade and the U.S. economy.

"The global supply chain requires security at every step of the way," said Thomas Grigalunas, a co-chairman of the conference and a URI professor of natural-resource economics.

He said the complex network of ports, trade routes and shipping companies connects suppliers from around the world with consumers of goods from Wal-Mart, General Motors, CVS and others.

Annually, U.S. ports handle 2 billion tons of cargo, with 7,500 commercial vessels unloading 7 million cargo containers making 51,000 annual calls. There are 400,000 port workers who in 2003 handled $807 billion worth of goods.

That system is linked to ports worldwide because the United States is the world's largest importer and exporter, accounting for 20 percent of all ocean-borne trade.

Even a small disuption at U.S. ports would ripple through the economy. A tragedy would be devastating. Remember when Hurricane Katrina closed the Port of New Orleans and cargo ships, oil tankers and trailer trucks were bottled up, disrupting the shipment of goods worldwide?

Despite those concerns, only a fraction of the big-box cargo containers that move through U.S. ports get fully inspected. Port security authorities have limited staffs and budgets to coordinate strategy and credential port workers.

Ten days ago, the U.S. Senate finally passed a bill that authorizes $5.5 billion for port security over six years. There's money for 1,000 customs and border officers and radiation detectors for 22 larger ports. There are new procedures to encourage shippers and ports worldwide to improve guarding containers against stowaway weapons.

The House has passed a similar bill. The differences have to be ironed out and President Bush has to sign the legislation before changes can be made.

As the ports wait for resources to tighten the security net, the evidence gets stronger that al-Qaida attacked the World Trade Center for three reasons: to kill Americans, to take down a symbol of Western capitalism and culture, and to disrupt the financial center of the world's economy.

The terrorists plan more attacks. Economic disruption remains one of their goals.

New York is the major port on the East Coast and supplies most of the goods that fuel New England's economy.

Rhode Island's ports at Quonset/Davisville, where cars and fish are unloaded, and Providence, where oil, natural gas, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other materials are shipped and stored, are not major players in the region's or U.S. economy.

But remember this:

Lightning or static electricity last summer is believed to have sparked a huge fire at the port in Providence, severely damaging a pier and disrupting fuel deliveries.

Think of what a targeted, manmade tragedy could do.

jkostrze@projo.com / (401) 277-7330