'Floating bomb' attack imminent, say experts

It is only a matter of time before Islamic militants attempt a major attack from the sea, says the Times, London.

Given the tight security now in place at airports worldwide, many intelligence officials fear the 'floating bomb scenario', a maritime version of 9/11, where hijacked airliners brought down New York's World Trade Center, the paper said quoting intelligence and security officials.  

For instance, a large explosion aboard a ship in Sydney Harbour, between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, 'could cause thousands of casualties; its economic and political impact would be catastrophic,' the paper said.

"We know that terrorists are increasingly turning to soft targets. As both the physical and political space in which they find sanctuary shrinks, as the noose tightens, we have good reason to believe terrorists will increasingly turn to the most unregulated of spaces: the sea," the article quoted US deputy assistant secretary of state, Matthew Daley as saying in Singapore last week.

While 'terrorists could find ripe targets in any of the world's port cities, including London, Rotterdam, New York and Los Angeles, particular anxiety is focused on South-East Asia and the Straits of Malacca, the narrow sea lane between Singapore and Indonesia,' the paper said.

According to the paper, 'the great fear is that South-East Asian pirates will join forces with terrorists already operating in the region, such as those whose bombs killed more than 200 people in Bali in 2002. There are tantalising hints that this may have happened already, and that a rehearsal for a major atrocity is already under way.'