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In the wake of the March 11 al-Qaeda attack on Madrid William O'Neil, the Secretary General of the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO, a United Nations agency) has called on the world maritime industry to speed up its implementation of the new International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), which is set to go into effect in the United States and many other countries on July 1. ISPS was adopted in the face of a worldwide terrorist threat and persistent rumors that the al-Qaeda network owns or controls a number of ships that could be converted into floating bombs to attack major ports.

The ISPS regulations require that every ship have an approved security plan and a security officer --- who can be the ship’s master wearing an additional hat --- on board. The code requirements vary as to the size and type of ship, and include a part A of mandatory measures and a part B of recommended guidelines. ISPS also regulates security at international seaports, which will also have to have approved security plans and designated officers to implement them.

Among the key ISPS provisions are the requirement of electronic gear that allows the automated tracking of ships farther from ports than had previously been the practice, better monitoring of the movements of of people and cargo to detect suspicious activities, stricter controls over who has gets on or off of ships and a new system of security communications in the event of a crime in progress.

Implementation of ISPS ship security rules is in large part left to the countries under whose flags the vessels are registered and that makes Panama, home of the world’s largest ship registry, a key player. There is an ongoing controversy about ISPS implementation here, as the Panama Maritime Authority has given a monopoly on approving security plans to an obscure Florida company, which is charging several times the going rate that ships registered under most other flags must pay.















Also in this section:
Business & Economy Briefs
CADE business execs' summit
IMO urges quicker ISPS action after Madrid attacks

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