US$1.5 million fund for port security

THE International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has established a US$1.5 million fund to help nations that need to implement the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code by its July 1, 2004 deadline. On Monday, Works and Transport Minister Franklyn Khan said it would cost Government $20 million to upgrade security at Trinidad and Tobago’s ports in compliance with the ISPS Code, but Government was committed to doing so because one downside to non-compliance could result in ships from TT being denied access to the United States. TT currently caters for 66 percent of the LNG shipped into the United States market.

According to the latest edition of Security Management Online, the IMO identified cost as one of the major stumbling blocks towards implementation of the ISPS Code because cost to the shipping industry, flag and port states could run into “billions of dollars” and some shipping companies could be forced to shut down if they have to bear too much of the cost. The IMO said it was against this background that “it has created the $1.5 million fund to enable maritime security experts to visit flag states that need assistance in drawing up effective and internationally harmonised security procedures. These experts are in-house IMO maritime security specialists or approved consultants. They hold seminars and workshops for government officials, training them in what kind of administrative structures and national legislation are required to comply with IMO treaties and conventions,” said Kenneth Hawkes, a maritime trial lawyer and Marsec International Inc executive vice-president (corporate development), a Miami-based maritime security company.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the IMO agreed to make nine amendments to its 1974 International Convention to for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The ISPS was subsequently drafted and agreed to in December 2003 along with these amendments. Some 120 nations worldwide are signatories to SOLAS and the ISPS Code essentially is designed “to protect ports and international shipping against terrorism” because “the ship/port interface is seen as a potential point of weakness for security measures.” Under the Code, some 30,000 to 40,000 ships worldwide will require an International Ship Security Certificate (ISSC) from an independent and approved body while 15,000 to 20,000 ports “have to be approved by their contracting governments.”

Any ship failing to obtain an ISSC “cannot trade” and every vessel subject to ISPS “should have a ship security plan in place by April 2004.” All ports are required to have three levels of alert and every vessel subject to ISPS must install a Ship Security Alert System (SSAS). The SSAS is a covert alert which does not sound on the ship or alert neighbouring ships but only “alerts the authorities ashore only.” The current timetable envisions most vessels being outfitted with an SSAS by the end of this year with the remainder being completed by 2006. The issue of long-range ships’ identification and tracking still needs to be resolved and the IMO will discuss this issue at its Comsar Eight, MSC78 and MSC79 conferences scheduled for February, June and December 2004 respectively.