[Narragansett-based] Applied Science Associates Inc., a marine science consulting firm, has designed a software application for the Port Security Training and Exercise Program, a series of tests the U.S. Coast Guard and the federal Transportation Security Administration are conducted in 40 cities.

The program, which has operated for three years, was created out of concern that a successful terrorist attack on a working port could halt container traffic worldwide for some time and significantly impact the U.S. economy and the entire world economy...

Unlike mock emergency drills often conducted on land, PortStep is a table-top exercise in which all the action is purely theoretical...