However, the latest travails of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transport Workers' Identification Credential (TWIC) program show the dangers of not being hands on, and offer a broader lesson for government and industry alike.

It has emerged that full implementation of TWIC has now been delayed until spring 2009 because of difficulties in producing the actual cards, containing the all-important biometric fingerprint, for roughly 300,000 applicants. The choice of a vendor was apparently influenced by political considerations and one wonders whether Congressmen from landlocked regions (where the cards are being produced, albeit at the slowed pace) have actually sat around with mariners and port workers in the various queues where applications were being processed, and felt their collective pain in this ongoing tragi-comedy.

Of course, production workers, rather than Congressmen, and DHS staffers, would actually produce the credit card-sized ID that will be required for stevedoring and maritime workers. Yet, oversight has seemed to be lacking every step of the way. In the coming years, ports will be presented with a raft of new regulations, which will all no doubt be tied to yet-to-be-perfected technologies in their implementation. Armies of consultants and bureaucrats will be kept busy developing and putting rules into motion.

For port management, the lesson on TWIC is that executives from the highest levels cannot completely rely on reports from contractors, or consultants. Eventually, ballast water regulations will be sorted out, and infrastructure improvements will likely be required at ports to meet new rules. Farther out in the distance, layers of regulators and consultants will see guaranteed employment from requirements surrounding maritime fuels and emissions. Port managers must find work-arounds, and see their processes first hand.

So, if future rules require a particular piece of hardware, it might be something as simple as an air quality monitor, for example, hopefully the top people from port management will be taking an unannounced stroll around the area, to confirm that the equipment is in place and functioning.  If “hands-on” means micro-managing, and meddling with details, so be it. Otherwise, there will be continual stories of well meaning efforts gone awry. The devil is in the detail. And, yes, kicking tires and pushing buttons is OK.