Security
US tackling global port security threat: Chinese-made cranes
Chinese-made cargo cranes are ubiquitous at Middle East ports but are 'vulnerable to exploitation,' US officials warn.
![A worker operates a crane from a remote station at the Lianyungang Port Container Terminal, Jiangsu province, China, on March 24, 2021. [Hector Retamal/AFP]](/gc1/images/2024/06/24/46095-china-cranes-600_384.webp)
By Al-Fassel |
The US government is investing billions of dollars to improve maritime cybersecurity to preempt any potential threat to global trade and transportation posed by Chinese-built cranes.
Such cranes could be used as part of "malicious cyber campaigns," according to a February executive order.
The government seeks to counter concerns about Chinese cranes equipped with advanced software by supporting the manufacture of US cranes and investing $20 billion in port infrastructure over the next five years.
The United States has a history of success in maintaining security and stability against adversaries, and partnership with the United States is enduring.
'Vulnerable to exploitation'
"China-manufactured ship-to-shore [STS] cranes make up the largest share of the global market," Rear Adm. Jay Vann, commander of the US Coast Guard Cyber Command, told reporters in February.
"By design these cranes may be controlled, serviced and programmed from remote locations," making them "vulnerable to exploitation," he said.
A congressional probe of giant cargo cranes made by Chinese state-owned company Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. (ZPMC) -- the world's largest crane maker -- "has found communications equipment that doesn't appear to support normal operations," The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported March 7.
This discovery has fueled concerns that the cranes may pose a covert national-security risk, it said.
According to congressional aides and documents, the installed components in some cases include cellular modems that could be remotely accessed, the WSJ said.
The probe follows a WSJ investigation last year that revealed the risks associated with the cargo cranes.
"It's the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection," Bill Evanina, a former US counterintelligence official, told the newspaper.
Global threat
Chinese-manufactured giant cargo cranes are plentiful at Middle Eastern ports, particularly in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2004, Dubai Ports Authority signed an agreement to buy nearly 100 cranes from ZPMC.
In September 2016, Abu Dhabi Ports signed a 35-year Concession Agreement with China's COSCO Shipping Ports Limited.
Two years later, it announced the arrival of 14 Chinese cranes at Khalifa Port.
In 2019, Abu Dhabi Ports installed two ZPMC quay cranes as part of the expansion of Fujairah Terminals.
In July 2022, Saudi Global Ports and ZPMC signed an agreement to manufacture three quay cranes at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.
Egypt is also viewed as a key market for Chinese-made cranes as Sino-Egyptian trade continues to increase, according to Dongqi Crane, another crane supplier from China.
Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling Company in 2020 announced the arrival of three gantry cranes manufactured by ZPMC, bringing the total of gantry cranes at the port to 13.
The Americans are worried that China would lift them
This is a very important article, but as an Egyptian, and in a large country like Egypt with a population of more than 110 million people, Egyptian personnel must be trained to manage Egyptian sea ports without giving a concession to any other country that is much less than us to do this major work.
What you say, sir, is right on. But to our officials for local consumption, it has no value, because these people are not really in charge of anything. they sit in airconditioned [rooms] and have no authority to make any decision. They know that they are there for a temporary period of time, so they line their pockets and move on.