Making the world's ports safer

The possible scenarios confronting maritime security experts could be plots for summer blockbuster movies: Terrorists convert a tanker into a floating bomb; they stash weapons of mass destruction inside an empty cargo container being shipped from a small island or hide themselves aboard a ship to emerge at a busy American port with weapons blazing.

To ensure that such scenes do not become reality, governments and the international maritime industry have launched one of the most ambitious antiterrorist efforts undertaken since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: new security standards that will affect ships and 6,114 ports around the world.

But as the July 1 deadline for meeting both the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and the U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act fast approaches, security experts warn that some smaller ports may not meet all the requirements, raising the possibility of delays and of the disruption of global trade and tourism -- including commerce with South Florida's Caribbean and Latin American trading partners -- and dealing a setback to the goal of international cooperation on antiterrorism efforts.

Thousands of vessels and hundreds of ports have yet to be certified as security ready, large bottlenecks exist in certification, and port authorities in some small developing countries only recently became aware of the rules. Still, large numbers of ships and facilities are expected to comply -- if just under the wire.

A June 1 evaluation of the Caribbean Basin and Central America warned that ``the majority of ports in the region have failed to achieve most, if not all, of the requirements set forth in the ISPS Code.''

''The risk to Florida trade is not limited to a few ports but extends to entire countries throughout the region,'' concluded the report, prepared for Caribbean-Central American Action and the Florida Ports Council by SeaSecure, a Fort Lauderdale maritime security firm.

''Everybody is scrambling,'' said Anton Edmund, deputy director of Caribbean-Central American Action, a Washington-based organization that promotes regional investment and trade and is involved in a U.S. AID-funded program to help Caribbean Basin ports. Since ``it was made clear that there is no extension of the deadline, everybody is in a panic.''

The U.S. Coast Guard, which has been reviewing security plans for U.S. facilities and flag ships, vows to strictly enforce both the U.S. rules and the ISPS code.

''We are going to board every vessel on a visit to a U.S. port after July 1,'' said Lt. Tony Russell, public affairs officer for the Coast Guard's seventh district.

For vessels arriving from ports that lack approved security plans, ''we are going to require additional security measures or deny access to U.S. waters,'' Russell said, adding that the measures would be on a ``case-by-case basis.''

Russell, who said he was not expecting mayhem, noted that the Coast Guard already boards numerous vessels. ''I don't know that there are going to be delays,'' he said. ``We've been working with the industry.''

The International Maritime Organization, a London-based United Nations body, approved the port and ship security rules, the ISPS Code, in December 2002 under an international agreement known as the Safety of Life at Seas Convention. But compliance has been lagging.

Two weeks ago, Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, repeated his concerns during a maritime meeting in his native Greece. As of June 16, the organization reported, 10.8 percent of ports and some 18.6 percent of merchant marine vessels had met the ISPS code.

''I must express serious concern that the latest information on the status of implementation of the code leaves much to be desired,'' Mitropoulos said. ``These figures and the disparity between the level of compliance by the industry and governments reinforce my plea for action without further delay.''

The maritime firm, Germanischer Lloyd, issued its own warning in May about the severe bottlenecks that exist over reviewing and certifying the vessels by the deadline. Still, the company said it expects by July 1 to have reviewed 3,000 ship security plans.

One of the reasons for the delays has been the lack of awareness by governments or port authorities. But equally difficult has been the failure of governments to set aside adequate funding to meet the stringent antiterrorist rules.

Under the code, ports must undertake a security assessment, including establishing policies and procedures for dealing with security risks. They must hire a designated security officer and implement security training, drills and exercises. And their plans must be reviewed and approved by maritime authorities in each country.

U.S. ports have been upgrading security steadily since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. New rules have already been adopted for cargo shipments. Now the effort extends around the globe.

The United States has its own rules that will affect all foreign-flagged vessels. Congress passed the Maritime Transportation Security Act in November 2002 to upgrade security standards. ''It is kind of like the ISPS on steroids,'' said Kim E. Petersen, a former member of the Army special forces who is president and chief executive of SeaSecure.

Under the law, U.S. authorities could deny a ship access to American ports if it is sailing from a foreign harbor that fails to meet security standards. ''The ports [in the region] didn't hear about the ISPS Code until this year,'' Petersen said. ``They are stunned, stupefied. This has given rise to voicing discontent with the United States.''

Even if a port fails to comply, there is a fallback plan for cruise or cargo lines that call at those ports. The lines can roll out contingency plans -- stepping up their own security efforts, such as posting extra security guards -- to overcome shortcomings in port surveillance.

Cruise lines have set the standard for the industry. In recent years, they have invested millions of dollars in equipment and training to guard against potential threats to passengers, according to Petersen, who has directed security programs at cruise lines.

Ted Thompson, executive vice president of the International Council of Cruise Lines, said that all cruise lines in the organizations had submitted their plans and that around two-thirds had been approved.

To compensate for problems with ports' not meeting the grade, the industry has sent teams to survey the ports and draw up contingency plans.

''For those [ports] that are not compliant, what our members will do is take additional security precautions that will inoculate themselves, if you will, against the shortcomings of the port,'' Thompson said.

But continued problems with a port could cause a cruise line to cancel stops there, he said. Thompson said the cruise industry was optimistic but concerned. ''Nobody likes uncertainty,'' he said.

Developing countries are finding it hard to comply. Nations like Haiti illustrate just how difficult it is for poor countries to meet the antiterrorism rules. Authorities in Port-au-Prince only began focusing on the certification process this spring, after an interim government was installed following former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure.

There is little chance that all of the country's ports can meet the requirements on time, even though the government will pay half a million dollars for a security assessment to meet the certification rules.

''We will be able, if not to be certified, at least to meet some requirements,'' said Danielle Saint Lot, Haiti's minister of commerce, industry and tourism.

''We are really working hard on this because it would be a real embargo,'' she said, referring to the possibility that vessels would refuse to stop at Haitian ports if they were not certified.

A number of regional ports have made great strides but at considerable costs. Jamaica, which has seen its security costs rise from $4 million to $20 million, has installed closed-circuit TV, underwater surveillance and mobile gamma-ray units to inspect containers.

To pay for the investments, the Port Authority of Jamaica has imposed inspection fees of $105 for a cargo container and $210 for a partial container load. Shipping agents say the new X-ray inspection will save them money.

Like Jamaica, many facilities are ahead of the game. The Panama Canal Authority recently announced that it had been certified by the American Bureau of Shipping Consulting for having met ISPS requirements.

Petersen said all ports must recognize the risks of terrorism since recent attacks have been against U.S. allies -- Spain and Bali -- instead of New York and Washington.

''We're not going to be able to eliminate risks,'' Petersen said. ``The best you can do is have a really robust emergency-response plan.''

Source: Miami Herald