Approximately 6,000 workers are expected to enroll at the Corpus Christi Safety Council Office located at 7433 Leopard Street. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply during the rest of 2007 and in 2008.
"The start of enrollment is one more step in our effort to prevent persons who are a threat from gaining access to secure areas of port facilities," said Maurine Fanguy, TWIC program director for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). "We appreciate the support of our partners at the port of Corpus Christi for helping to make one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems a reality."
Corpus Christi is the second port to begin enrollment in the nationwide program. Ultimately, TSA will establish fixed enrollment centers at 147 ports and will deploy mobile enrollment centers to dozens of other locations as needed.
"TWIC will be a crucial part of our multi-layered risk based approach to maritime security," said Coast Guard. Capt. Robert Paulison. "It will strengthen security and access control at ports and on thousands of other maritime facilities and vessels."
Workers at the Port of Corpus Christi are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic or the Coast Guard's Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil. Pre-enrolling speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This eliminates waiting at enrollment centers and reduces the time it takes to enroll each individual.
The Port of Corpus Christi is the seventh largest port in the United States in tonnage movement and a vital catalyst for economic development in the area. The port began serving the Coastal Bend area of Texas in 1926 with a 25-foot channel and at 45 feet is now one of the deepest ports in the Gulf of Mexico.
