About one third of the U.S. GDP is generated by international trade and 99 percent of that business passes through the country's seaports. These gateways create more than 13 million jobs and contribute over $200bn in annual tax revenues.

Yet up until recently, there was no reliable measure of the U.S. port system's cargo handling capacity. Moreover, we were largely unaware that imports of key goods such as petroleum products are concentrated in relatively small geographic areas, increasing the economy's vulnerability to port shut downs.

A research initiative called the Center for Secure and Resilient Maritime Commerce (CSR) launched in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is addressing this lack of awareness. Led by the Stevens Institute of Technology, CSR includes about a dozen academic and private-sector organizations, including MIT CTL.

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Keywords: transportation management, supply chain risk management, ocean transportation, U.S. port disruptions, supply chain disruptions, logistics & supply chain