Addressing SMM's Maritime Security & Defence conference in the city on Wednesday, he posed the question: "If you had evil intent, would you attack a ship at sea? Or would you attack a public port, with the media there in seconds?"

He added: "You would attack a port."

Martin, in charge of 500 officers policing Europe's second-largest port, argued that port safety has been "underestimated" and called terminals the "hotspots" of maritime security.

He