There is a plethora of case studies, incidents, and open-source reporting substantiating the wide-spread usage of commercial maritime conveyances – large ocean-going vessels, cruise ships, and coastal freighters – by terrorist groups to transport personnel from one country to another. While ships are being used as unwitting hosts, the preponderance of reporting of such incidents suggests that in the majority of the cases, either the ship owner or crew are knowledgeable of or participate in these transport operations. The transport of large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and explosives to terrorists groups generally is via maritime containers. The existence of a ‘business alliance’ between terrorists and a vast network of profit-oriented transnational criminal organizations greatly enhances the operational control, complexity, and likely success of these activities; in the Western Hemisphere, this alliance is the primary driver directing the transport of terrorists and materials via commercial maritime transport. These terror transport operations present a formidable challenge to the security programs of unsuspecting seaports and ships; however, the terrorists' usage of innocent ships, cargoes and containers can be mitigated, in part, through the design, implementation, and management of a well-planned seaport/ship security strategy.