The Puget Sound ferry system is believed to be the most likely target of maritime terrorism in the country.

The FBI’s Threat Monitoring Unit examined thousands of incidents reported around boats, ports and other maritime facilities between September 2004 and September 2005, according to a Justice Department report released in March.

The greatest concentration of alarming incidents happened on ferries in the Seattle area, followed by oil tankers off of the Gulf Coast.

Ned Kiley, a security officer for Washington State Ferries, said he was neither surprised nor alarmed by the findings.

“The good thing is, the FBI takes these reports seriously and investigates them, and puts them in their database to do the analysis to connect the dots, if there are any dots to be connected,” Kiley said.

Ferries that travel from Mukilteo and Edmonds are less likely to be targeted than larger ferries that connect Seattle to Bainbridge and Bremerton, according to a Coast Guard study in the 2003 Federal Register.

The ferries most at risk of being targeted by terrorists are those carrying more than 2,000 people, the Coast Guard study said. The ferries departing from Snohomish County have a capacity of about 1,200 people, Kiley said.

The FBI’s threat unit analyzed about 51,000 reports and singled out 68 significant incidents, mostly involving people filming or photographing ferries or ferry terminals

Nineteen of those reports originated in this state, and 10 stemmed from the state ferry system.

“Assuming the data from these 68 incidents is indicative of pre-operational activity, the FBI believes that ferries in the Seattle area and fuel tankers in the Gulf Coast region appear to be the most likely targets of maritime terrorism,” the Justice Department report said.

Security on the ferries has already been tightened. U.S. Coast Guard vessels escort some of the ferries, Washington State Patrol troopers patrol the ships and bomb-sniffing dogs search for explosives.

Washington State Ferries and State Patrol officials meet at least once a month to discuss security, Kiley said.

“We continue to encourage ferry customers to be alert and report any suspicious activity they see,” he said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.