After successfully completing this lesson you will be familiar with the
ISPs code chapter 11 - - and associated regulations
the world changed on September the 11th 2001 we all realized how vulnerable we
are to attacks from terrorists a ship can be used by terrorists either to
transport weapons or as a weapon itself we have to do everything possible to
prevent this from happening again
in 1986 the terrorist attack on the Achille Lauro had a profound effect on
the maritime industry as a result of that attack advice on anti-piracy and
hijack was issued by the IMO the advice was implemented by some parts of the
maritime industry mainly on cruise ships but was largely ignored by the rest of
the industry in response to the events of September the 11th IMO and the US
Coast Guard have developed that advice and introduced a methodology for
implementing the measures by making contracting governments and companies
responsible for the implementation this work has resulted in an amendment to
solace chapter 11 call the International ship and port facility security code the
code is commonly known as the ISPs code the code will have one mandatory section
called part a and one section with guidelines called Part B these
requirements will be mandatory in July 2004 for all ships of 500 gross tonnage
in upwards engaged on international voyages including high-speed crafts and
mobile offshore drilling units it will require the vessels to have an approved
ship security plan in the United States parallel legislation is enacted through
the u.s. maritime security bill an automatic identification system or
AIS for short is a device that transmits information about your ship and receives
the same from other ships an example of information transmitted would be
callsign ship's name the ship's speed its course and destination Co stations
can also receive this information the AIS is an important tool for coastal
states to monitor ship traffic and to detect possible threats the SOLAS
convention already states that an AIS must be fitted on ships over a period of
time ranging from 2002 to 2008 depending on ship type and tonnage the new
international ship and port facility security code shortens this period
in addition in the event of a terrorist attack ships personnel must be able to
alert the authorities assure without letting the terrorists know that an
alarm has been raised this will be possible through a ship security alert
system the ship security alert system must be capable of being activated from
the bridge and from one more location not be sent to other ships in the
vicinity be sent to a competent authority ashore not give an indication
onboard that the alarm has been raised continue to transmit the ship security
alert until it has been deactivated
in addition to the aforementioned requirements SOLAS also requires the
following ship identification numbers regulation 11 - 1/3 is modified to
require ship's identification numbers to be permanently marked in a visible place
either on the ship's hull or superstructure passenger ships should
carry the marking on a horizontal surface visible from the air ships
should also be marked with their ID numbers internally continuous synopsis
record regulation 11 - 1 / 5 requires ships to be issued with a continuous
synopsis record which is intended to provide an onboard record of the history
of the ship this record is commonly known as CSR the CSR shall be issued by
the administration and shall contain information such as the name of the ship
the state whose flag the ship is entitled to fly the date on which the
ship was registered with that state the ship's identification number the port at
which the ship is registered the name of the registered owner or owners the
registered address of the owner or the owners any changes shall be recorded in
the CSR in order to provide updated and current information together with the
history of the changes
to ensure that the ship security plan is always up to date and correct a ship
security assessment must be carried out at regular intervals this assessment is
initiated by the company security officer and must include the following
items identify existing security measures procedures and operations
identify and evaluate key shipboard operations that are important to protect
identify possible threats to key shipboard operations and assess the
likelihood of their occurrence prioritize the possible threats and
establish appropriate security measures identify weaknesses including human
factors in the infrastructure policies and procedures
all ships covered by the ISPs code must have an international ship security
certificate the flag state authority issues this certificate after verifying
compliance and approval of the ship security plan this procedure can be
delegated to a recognized security organization such as a classification
society recognized security organization is commonly abbreviated as RS zero this
certificate will be checked during port state controls the flag state Authority
will periodically audit the ship security arrangements in order to
determine the vessels continuing qualification for renewal of the
International ship security certificate
security levels have been defined in order to easily and clearly communicate
the extent of the threat present in a port security level one normal risk
minimum appropriate security measures must be maintained at all times
security level to increasing risk appropriate additional security measures
must be maintained for a period of time as a result of the increasing risk of a
security incident security level three incident imminent further specific
security measures must be maintained for a period of time when a security
incident is probable or imminent although it may not be possible to
identify the specific target the security level is set by the port state
and indicates what security measures should be taken before entering a port
the ship security officer must communicate with the port to find out
which security level is applicable a ship can never have lower security level
than the port facility