By TONY BURCHYNS
Vallejo Times-Herald staff writer

VALLEJO, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has approved three training courses to be offered at Cal Maritime Academy that are aimed at protecting Bay Area ports from terrorist threats.

Hazardous material releases and weapons of mass destruction are among the topics each course will address, school officials announced.

There are about 70 regulated port facilities in the Bay Area, including the Port of Oakland, which handles about one third of all container cargo entering California.

The courses, which meet the requirements of the Maritime Transportation Security

Act of 2002, are aimed at shipping industry workers such as licensed mariners, shipping company senior personnel and port terminal management staff.

Beginning in 2009, mariners who are going to serve as vessel security officers will have to show evidence of qualified security training.

"Even Fed Ex people who regularly work on or around a regulated maritime facility could enroll," said John Ostrander, Cal Maritime Academy's program manager of maritime security curriculum and professional services.

Industry professionals taking the courses may be eligible to use U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant funds, or port security grand funds, to pay for them, Ostrander said.

The courses being offered are Combined Company, Vessel and Facility Security Officer; Basic Maritime Security Awareness; and First Responder Operational Maritime Security.

Cal Maritime Academy is the only school in the country delivering security training courses approved by the Coast Guard, the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Copyright 2008 The Times-Herald