MAIN HEAD V.Ships and Securicor DECK HEAD V.Ships has announced a ship security "strategic alliance" with Securicor BODY If you want to improve the security of your ships, are you best going to someone with Special Forces experience or someone who knows about industrial security? V.Ships, the largest ship manager in the world, decided on the second course and has announced a ship security tie-up with Securicor, an international security company based in the UK. The company appointed Securicor to assist with security after listening to about 12 sales pitches from security consultants, all ex-special forces. "A lot of what they offered was quite depressing," the company says. Securicor has already established itself as a leader in port security, having conducted port security assessments in Hong Kong, China and Malaysia, currently bidding for work in Ireland. It has a number of US customers. SUBHEAD V.Ships and security V.Ships was very keen to get involved in security as soon as it became obvious that the maritime industry would have to put together ship security plans. The first IMO working committee on ship security met in Feb 2002, 5 months after 9-11. In August 2002. V.Ships had its first version of the ship security plans. In October 2002, the company appointed its "Company Security Officer," and in June 2003 carried out its first security assessment. In August 2003, Lloyds Register gave approval of V.Ships' first ship security plan, the first plan it had ever seen. In October 2003 V.Ships also began carrying out its in-house training for the ISPS code and in November 2003, issued its first ever ship security certificate. However the company notes that it still had a headstart; the company had ship security plans even before 9-11. "It takes about 3 months to sort out a ship security plan," says V.Ships' David McFarlane. "You have to put the plan onboard and get crew used to it, and then send it back to the office. "You have to get ship staff accustomed to doing stuff like search people." "I would allow 26 weeks [altogether] to fully comply for one vessel." Most of the ship security officers are chief officers or chief engineers, although V.Ships says that one of its shipowners is considering putting an extra officer onboard making the security requirement a full time job. SUBHEAD Screening The most complex aspect of the ISPS code is the screening issues. There is no point in building a high security fence if it isn't of the same height for its entire length. So it goes with shipping; if it is possible anywhere for a non-screened person to gain access to the port facility or a ship, then the entire process is violated. Violating the security fence leads to serious implications. For example a ship which has visited a non-ISPS compliant port, out of its last 10 port calls, can be refused entry or searched prior to entry if it aims to enter an ISPS compliant port. This will clearly be of big concern to brokers, which will need to be thoroughly aware of which ports are not ISPS compliant so they do not fix any ships to go to them; ports which are not ISPS compliant can expect to not receive any ships. There is a "declaration of security" mechanism, where ships can declare to the authorities in advance that they have been to non-ISPS compliant ports and wait for the authorities to make a decision about whether or not to let the ship enter. In ports, the ISPS code is defined as covering the "port facility," the area where the ship meets the land. Anybody in this area will need a certain level of screening, to make sure unauthorised persons do not gain access to the ship from the land. The precise definition of a "port facility" is not clear, since many ports have, for example, residential areas right in the middle of them. But what is clear is that the port facility must be a restricted zone. V.Ships has now adopted various levels of screening for its crew and other people who might come into contact with the vessel, such as tug operators. Securicor puts its staff through 5 year and 10 year checks. SUBHEAD ISPS concerns Despite the speed with which regulators issued the requirements, they are still getting behind when helping shipping companies implement them. IMO has recently put out its own model courses for ship security officers, which, Mr McFarlane thinks, came out far too late. "Many flag administrations still have to issue requirements," he says. "We work with 23 flag states; I have only seen the requirements for 15 of them." There are also confusing variations in the flag state requirements, which will be particularly annoying for ship managers or owners working with more than one flag. "We have been putting the IMO number on the bridge front," he says. "One flag administration says they want the number on the side of the ship so that it can be seen by other ships and aircraft." V.Ships is concerned about the attitudes of security inspectors; it is very hard to be absolutely certain that an inspector will not have a reason to detain a ship, for example is a floodlight bulb goes. Martin Stafford, of V.Ships Consulting, has concerns about the competence of some "recognised security organisations," appointed by flag states to determine whether or not ships should be provided with ship security certificates. He believes there can be real value to the ISPS code, but the fast timescale reduces the exercise to compliance for the sake of compliance. Colin Atkins,project manager with Securicor, notes that the ISPS code is a risk management exercise, similar to exercises done in all kinds of other industries for many years. However he calls for more consistency around the world in the different requirements under the code, which will make more sense of the scalability of it, as both shipping companies and ports are expected to be able to move easily between levels 1 2 and 3. SUBHEAD Consulting V.Ships has a subsidiary company, Seatec, which is providing security consulting services, in association with Securicor. Seatec has been providing safety and training services for over 12 years. In the security arena, the services Seatec can provide include preparation of the plan, security assessment, security officer training. Seatec can also provide what it terms a "ship security pack," which includes hardware a ship can use for ISPS compliance, including CCTV cameras, signs, a visitors log, visitor passes, door seals, a guide to the ISPS code. The kit is priced at $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the requirements; for $1,000 you can have a kit with dummy CCTV cameras, for $10,000 the cameras actually work. Seatec also provides advice as to small design changes which can be made on ships which improve security, in particular installing access control systems (doors which stop intruders gaining access to the ship) and closed circuit television; also improved lighting and blast protection (eg curtains which protect windows from shattering all over rooms if there is an explosion outside). "Why don't we create some kind of barrier at the top of the accommodation ladder," notes Mr Stafford. "Its very simple - it will only cost a few thousand dollars. Very few shipbuilders consider this." "We can have a controlled entrance, linked back to the cargo control room; we can put a door there and improve the position of locks. I don't know if we can stop a determined terrorist but we can make it more difficult."