ROTTERDAM VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002912

SIPDIS

STATE FOR S/CT, EB/ESC/IEC, INR/EC, DS/ITA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2015
TAGS: EPET ETRD EWWT PTER PINR ASEC KHLS
SUBJECT: ROTTERDAM VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT

REF: STATE 182688

Classified By: GLOBAL ISSUES SECTION CHIEF SUSAN GARRO FOR REASONS 1.4
(e) and (g)


1. (C) Summary. The sprawling port of Rotterdam and its
substantial petroleum refining and storage facilities is
critical to the European economy. The Dutch government
considers the port one of seven "critical infrastructure"
sectors in the Netherlands, and considerable public and
private sector resources have been devoted to enhancing
security at the port and related industrial complex. The
port is widely recognized as having high security standards.
Port management and security is the responsibility of the
Rotterdam municipal government, which conducted a risk
assessment in 2004 for the port, including the petrochemical
complex. The GONL has not performed an independent
vulnerability assessment for the port or refineries. The
refineries in Rotterdam produce approximately 1.1 million
barrels per day (bpd). End Summary.


2. (C) Rotterdam is the second largest port in the world and
a vital component of the Dutch and European trade and
transportation system. It is also one of the most important
petrochemical centers and the largest oil transshipment port
in the world. Nearly 102 million metric tons of crude oil
passed through the port in 2004. Shell, ExxonMobil,
BP/ChevronTexaco and Kuwait Petroleum Corp all have major
refineries in Rotterdam; together they produce approximately
1.1 million barrels per day (bpd). The port and industrial
complex cover 40 kilometers; the refineries are concentrated
in three locations along the port, Pernis, Botlek and
Europoort.


3. (C) The Rotterdam municipal government conducted a risk
assessment for the port and industrial complex, including the
petrochemical refineries, in 2004. The city government
manages the port through a government corporation known as
Rotterdam Municipal Port Management, and is responsible for
ensuring the security of the port. The Rotterdam public
security department, the port authority, police and fire
departments all participated. The assessment divided the
port infrastructure into a variety of different
infrastructure facilities, and assigned one of three levels
of risk to each. According to Jolanda Trijselaar of the
Rotterdam public security department, all of the
petrochemical facilities were determined to be in the highest
category of risk, calculated as a factor of the perceived
risk and the potential impact of an attack. Trisalaar noted
that the refineries generally exceed GONL security
requirements, because they follow the security guidelines of
the parent company,s home country, which tend to be more
stringent than the GONL,s own requirements.


4. (C) Following the risk assessment, the municipal
government provided recommendations for security
enhancements, tailored to the type of facility and level of
risk. Trijselaar noted that implementation of the security
recommendations is voluntary on the part of private firms, as
the municipal government cannot mandate implementation.



5. (C) Trijselaar stated that, apart from the risk
assessment conducted by the municipal government,
International Maritime Organization and European Union
regulations require port facilities to comply with the
International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
The port has voluntarily extended the provisions of the ISPS
Code to cover inland barges and terminals in addition to
terminals and oceangoing ships involved in international
trade. Altogether, 140 different port facilities, including
the refineries, have ISPS-consistent security plans in place;
all meet or exceed ISPS requirements.


6. (C) The port and refinery complex, considered as single
sector, is one of the seven critical infrastructure sectors
in the Counter-terrorist Alert System managed by the GONL,s
National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism (NCTB). The alert
system establishes a uniform communication structure for
relaying threat information and agreed security measures to
be taken to protect critical infrastructure. The system
establishes four levels of alert: baseline, or basic level;
low threat; moderate threat; and high threat. The Rotterdam
port and petrochemical complex is currently rated at the
basic level. Because the municipality is responsible for
security at the port, the national government has not done an
independent vulnerability assessment. National
Counter-terrorism Coordinator Tibbe Joustra told Charge
October 21 that he was confident that the risk assessment
conducted by the municipal government was adequate to ensure
the security of the port, and that the Alert System provided
an effective mechanism to alert the port and related
facilities about emerging terrorist threats.


BLAKEMAN