Formal guidance on how port security managers should implement the ISPS Code that came into force on 1 July has been issued by ISO

Developed in conjunction with global port, shipping and customs associations, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has issued ISO/PAS 20858:2004 鈥楽hips and Marine Technology: Maritime Port Facility Security Assessments and Security Plan Development鈥� 鈥� a guide designed to help port security managers comply with the newly-launched International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

The Code came into force on 1 July, but by that date only 53% of the 7,974 international ports surveyed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 鈥� sponsors of the Code 鈥� were certified as being compliant. The latest guidelines should help port management teams develop and draft a security plan as required by the Code, and subsequently assess the quality of installed security facilities and services. They also advise port managers on how to specify the competence of personnel tasked with conducting those security assessments.

鈥淭his really is a major maritime security standards initiative,鈥� commented Captain Charles Piersall, chairman of the ISO Ships and Marine Technology Sub-Committee for Intermodal and Short Sea Shipping.

Piersall is adamant the new ISO document has been developed with 鈥渧aluable input and wise counsel鈥� from representatives of the International Association of Ports and Harbours, the International Chamber of Shipping and the World Customs Organisation.

To speed up the guidelines鈥� introduction, they鈥檝e initially been released as a Publically-Available Specification that falls short of a formal ISO standard. However, they will be reviewed within the next three years to see if any form of upgrade is required. Piersall added that other standards on intermodal transport are also in the pipeline.

For their part, security consultants wishing to use ISO鈥檚 kit will find demand for their expertise strongly regionalised. According to the latest IMO bulletin on ISPS Code implementation: 鈥淭here remain regional pockets in which progress has not been as rapid as was first hoped and expected鈥�. Africa is falling way behind other continents when it comes to compliance, with just over half of the 30 African nation states boasting international ports meeting ISPS Code rules. Countries in the former Soviet Union and in eastern Europe have also been slow to adapt.

IMO is now planning to launch a 鈥楾rain The Trainer鈥� programme before the end of the year aimed at supplying qualified maritime security instructors to relevant national institutions in tardy countries.

Copies of the ISO guidelines are available on the Internet. Take a look at: sales@iso.org

Source

SMT