On May 2, the European Commission adopted a Communication on
enhancing
maritime transport security and made a proposal for a Regulation on
enhancing
ship and port facility security
The Commission's proposal for a Regulation is based on the agreement,
reached
in the IMO in December 2002, to amend the SOLAS Convention on the Safety
of
Lives at Sea and the adoption of the International Ship and Port
Facility
Security (ISPS) Code.
The mandatory provisions of the IMO agreement include a requirement for
ships
to be permanently marked with their identification number, fitted with
an
automatic identification system (AIS) and a ship security alert system,
and
to be issued with a continuous synopsis record (CSR). Ship, company, and
port
facility officers must also be appointed and are responsible for
preparing
security plans, taking into account the risk assessment.
The Commission states in its Communication that it unreservedly supports
the
IMO initiative and has in fact decided to go further than the IMO
agreement
in some respects. The Commission made a decision to make mandatory some
of
the provisions contained in Part B of the code, which were voluntary
under
the IMO agreement. Their motivation is both to raise the level of
security
and to avoid differences of interpretation between EU Member States.
Therefore, the provisions of the IMO agreement relating to the revision
of
ship security plans, to port facility security assessment, to the
protection
of the confidentiality of security plans and assessments and the minimum
competencies of recognized security organizations have, amongst others,
been
made compulsory.
Also mandatory are the minimum standards for the ship security
assessment,
the ship security plan, the port facility security assessment and plan
as are
the provisions relating to the frequency of security drills and
exercises in
port facilities and for port facility security officers, ship's crews
and
company and ship security officers.
The May meeting of IMO's Marine Safety Committee will begin work on
guidelines for implementation and the IMO agreement comes into force in
July
2004. It is expected that EU Member States will therefore progress
quickly
with their consideration of the proposal. The Commission states in its
Communication that it is important that the Community play a driving
role.
(Source: Intertanko)