Israel sets standard for maritime security

[Gość: AriFleischer]

Israel sets standard for maritime security

By Reuters



ABOARD "ISLAND TRADER" - For Captain Valeri and his crew, the Israeli
boarding party was a muscle-bound introduction to security precautions that
may soon be common in all of the world's seaports.




First to clamber up to "Island Trader" as it neared Haifa port on Thursday
were five Uzi-wielding naval commandos. Then came customs and immigration
agents, followed by a military sapper who hoisted his bomb-sniffer Labrador
aboard in a sling.

"It is not a big surprise," said the Ukrainian skipper, clutching a cargo
manifest and a neat stack of the 10 crewmen's passports on the tanker
deck. "We've been preparing for this sort of thing, as required by ISPS."

The International Ship and Port Facility Security code, a slew of anti-terror
regulations that Washington pushed through the United Nations in the wake of
September 11, 2001, for fear of al Qaeda sea attacks, goes into effect
globally next month.

Analysts say ISPS is partly modeled on the Jewish state's maritime security,
considered the tightest in the world, and Israeli consultants are much in
demand as countries move to implement it by July 1.

It requires the training of on-board ship and company security officers,
emergency procedures to deal with a terror attack, and a raft of security
upgrade measures in ports and coastal terminals.

But ISPS non-compliance is still rife, analysts say, especially among cash-
strapped Third World countries. Weighed against budget constraints is the
fact that, under ISPS, ships that are not certified can be held up at sea or
turned away.

"A day's hold-up would cost tens of thousands of dollars, depending on vessel
type," said David Osler of Lloyd's List.

The Cypriot-registered Island Trader was cleared to enter Haifa and load oil
after 63 minutes, although the customs agents did net 24 cartons of
undeclared cigarettes in hand. Valeri was fined e400 for the infraction.

Wary of seaborne Arab guerrilla raids and attempts to smuggle arms to
Palestinian militants in the occupied Gaza Strip, Israel has for decades kept
a close eye on its coast, which handles 35 million tons of international
trade a year.

An Israeli naval commander said incoming vessels were vetted by radio contact
while at their port of origin