Editor's note: Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is a weekly online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com – a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for the last 25 years.

The U.S. Coast Guard, responding to elevated threats of terror from the sea – threats first reported in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin – has closed one of the world's largest oil tanker terminals on Alaska's south shore.

Tanker loading at Valdez, the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, was shut off Tuesday night. The facility remains closed indefinitely. The 800-mile pipeline carries 17 percent of the nation's oil supply from the Prudoe Bay oil fields off Alaska's northern slope.

Security in the sound area was tightened last week after U.S. officials said the terminals could be a target of terrorist attacks.

Al-Qaida's plan to take its international terror campaign to the sea includes targeting cruise liners and aircraft carriers.

Topping the list of targets in the sea jihad is the new $1.3 billion Queen Mary 2, set to make its maiden voyage this year.

The extent and nature of the QM2 threat became apparent when a U.S. spy plan discovered scores of acoustic sea mines had disappeared from a high-security naval base in North Korea. U.S. intelligence services believe the mines may be aboard an armada of terror ships Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has purchased and formed into a terror armada over the past year.

The mines are fitted with homing devices that allow them to zero in on massive targets like the QM2 or carriers.

Much of the new information about al-Qaida's maritime terror plans came about with the capture of Ahmad Belai al-Neshari, al-Qaida's chief of naval operations. Al-Neshari was found carrying a 180-page dossier which listed "targets of opportunity" such as large cruise liners sailing from western ports. U.S. intelligence officials have allegedly uncovered proof he was planning to attack the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal as it passed through the Gibraltar Straits en route to the Gulf War earlier this year.

G2B reported exclusively last fall, based on intelligence obtained that al-Qaida has purchased at least 15 ships in the last two years, creating a veritable terror armada. G2 Bulletin's sources said then potential targets of the al-Qaida armada include civilian ports, oil rigs and cruise liners.

With the heightened security alert in the United States, maritime terrorism is getting new international attention, with NATO taking responsibility for stopping ships suspected of carrying al-Qaida members and weapons believed headed to terrorists.

NATO's Combined Task Force-150 is headed by a French admiral. According to new information, the task force is boarding several ships a week in search of what has become known through reports in G2 Bulletin as "Al-Qaida's Navy."

Recently, British officials announced al-Qaida had plans to use its mystery ships to detonate a "dirty" nuke bomb in London.

The device was to be delivered on a cargo ship and moored at a dock ready to be detonated when the wind was right, according to the People newspaper in London. If it had exploded, it would have contaminated a huge area and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of terrified people.

The plot, thwarted by security forces, was revealed by British Homeland Security shadow minister Patrick Mercer, a Tory terrorist expert and former senior army officer. A cargo ship suspected of carrying the bomb – the 26,000-ton MV Nisha – was stormed by the elite Special Boat Squadron in the English Channel two years ago, said Mercer.

But the Indian-owned vessel was carrying sugar. The real al-Qaida ship bound for Britain was frightened off by the raid.

Since G2B broke the story that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida had obtained 15 ships whose whereabouts are unknown, international law enforcement authorities and officials in Washington and in other capitals around the world have been taking precautions against terror on the high seas. New reports suggest al-Qaida may have as many as 28 ships.

Worldwide there is heightened awareness of the potential for a major maritime terrorist attack. A once-secret, 181-page al-Qaida training manual obtained by G2 Bulletin shows bin Laden's terrorist network has been focused on seaports as top-level targets for more than two years.

Al-Qaida encourages the recruitment of agents who work as "employees at borders, airports and seaports." Targets listed for "blasting and destroying" include:

• "Places of amusement";

• "Embassies";

• "Vital economic centers";

• "Bridges leading into and out of the cities";

• "Strategic buildings";

• "Important establishments";

• "Military bases";

• "Important ministries such as those of defense and internal security";

• "Airports";

• "Seaports";

• "Land border points";

• Radio and TV stations.

G2 Bulletin sources say there are reports al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations have been practicing high-seas terror attacks by hijacking ships, kidnapping crews and studying diving – much as the Sept. 11 skyjackers learned to fly airliners.

Al-Qaida's mystery armada is believed to be somewhere in the Indian or Pacific oceans. When the ships left their home ports in the Horn of Africa weeks ago, some were destined for ports in Asia.

G2 Bulletin sources say other potential targets of the al-Qaida armada, besides civilian ports, include oil rigs.

A recent Rand Corp. study warns terrorists might use container ships in terror attacks meant to cause massive casualties. The report warns cargo ships or shipping containers could be used to deliver weapons of mass destruction for terror groups such as al-Qaida.

The report, produced in cooperation with the European Commission, said: "The potential threat of terrorists using containers poses a large risk to our economies and to our societies. Ultimately, this means that the marine sector – and specifically the container transport sector – remains wide open to the terrorist threat."

Rand said the international community has not become sufficiently aware of al-Qaida's threat at sea, with most counter-insurgency efforts being focused on stopping an attack from the air.

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