International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) - Part One

"Excuse me Sir", said the stranger standing on the wharf to a member of the ships crew, ""who is your Ships Security Officer (SSO)".

"I am sorry", replied the member of the ships crew, "I am not allowed under international law to divulge that information".

"Ah", said the stranger who was peering over the bulwarks of the ship and onto the main deck, "then could you possibly tell me who your Chief Officer is"?

"Of course, I can" said the member of the ships crew to the stranger, "that man over there with the flak jacket on, with the handcuffs and chains in his back pocket and a portable x-ray machine strapped to his leg is my Chief Officer."

THE END TO ISM

For all onboard and ashore (International Ship and Port Security) ISPS came hard-on-the-heals of (International Ship Management) ISM; without pause for reflection. Safety, the word that has only just been taken onboard by the masses had at last become a top priority for all concerned. Seafarers and operators after years of running the show their way, after decades of ignoring, hating and despising the ISM system and all that it was built upon, eventually broke down the barriers and brought it in from the cold. ISM after many torturous years of abuse and relegation to the bilges at last came to be accepted as a part of shipboard life and operating procedures - even by some of the most stalwart objectors.

The majority of seafarers, including the old, aged and infirm came to realise that ISM was here to stay and that by utilising the system in its full and correct manner it may actually aid them in their work. The system can often be cumbersome and might require the services of a secretary and an archivist to manoeuvre around but at the end of the day it theoreticaly aids and protects the rights of individuals in the course of their work and responsibility for actions taken can be documented clearly - including the lack of them as is often the case.

ISM was finally accepted and after many Audits and stressful times for Ship and Office staff alike life was getting back to normal.

And then ISPS landed .very unexpectedly.

THE BIRTH OF ISPS

From Head Office to all ships: "after years of drumming ISM into your heads it is now imperative that ISPS takes first place - ISM must be traded in until the ISPS audit is complete". In other words Safety must be relagated to the subs bench and security will take its place on the playing field.

Last year ISPS hit companies, ports and ships with a vengeance. Potential auditors all over the world rubbed their hands gleefully as tills clicked in their heads and job security suddenly became guaranteed. Chief Officers abruptly became security officers (after a 3-day course) and started keeping secrets - some even from their very own Captains.

ISPS came in and safety training, ISM awareness and usage and periods of potential relaxation went out of the porthole in one fell swoop. Everything except ISPS awareness, acceptance and the passing of audits was "walked the plank" thus removing part of a ships culture that had been so long fought and only recently won.

SUDDENLY For all Onboard

Lifeboat drills, fire drills and IOPP drills where relegated to the sidelines as bomb drills, security drills and "body search in a custom officers approved manner and without all the equipment and back-up" drills took over.

AB's found themselves' working 12hrs/day, seven days a week, often all of the time on mind numbingly boring gangway watches. Abruptly, accommodation units became prison compounds with locked doors and with windows reduced to peephole proportions.

Exercise on deck has suddenly became a highly regulated operation that requires permission, and great forethought and planning.

Ships can now be stopped and held in port simply because the cook does not know what the initials CSO stand for, yet the same ship can sail legally with leaking ballast tanks, and a fire pump that has not been tested in months. In fact it is possible for unsafe and un-seaworthy vessels to set sail without restraint and hindrance yet be stopped simply due to a certain ISPS form not being filled out correctly.

ISPS FOR ENGINEERS

Suddenly Engineers find themselves locked into their very own engine rooms. Should the duty engineer suddenly be overcome by smoke, toxic fumes or vapours, the possibility of others reaching him/her in time has now been reduced to about zero. Should for example a fire start in the machinery space and should for example the poor engineer be trapped and unable to either pass through the fire to safety or out of an escape hatch (as he is weak and overcome by smoke - or because the locking device has malfunctioned) then the chances of getting to him in time are considerably reduced. Simply put the fire can only be fought from one-side and access through the escape hatch will require the services of a cutting torch or at the very least a large mallet (which all takes time to set up).

In simple terms; safety in the machinery space has been seriously reduced.

FOR DECK OFFICERS

It is very difficult these days to call a "mate" a mate or for that matter a Chief Officer or Chief Navigating Officer, etc. Other titles and responsibilities have crept onto their shoulders and especially on smaller vessels they are more commonly known as the Ships Security Officer (SSO) and the Ships Safety Officer (SO) or trainer, teacher or general educator, as being the SSO or SO adds the responsibility of conducting drills and training exercises as required by ISM, ISPS and other operating policies and regs.. One could always add Ballast Master, Loading Master, Trainee Captain, Librarian or Secretary to the list but the point of the matter is that the Chief Officer has taken on another large responsibility and duty that's adds to an already stressful and full working life onboard ship.

Suddenly Captains and SSO's have to do twelve hour duty shifts as they become responsible for maintaining security, checking up on suspicious persons as highlighted by the gangway watchmen and for opening doors should somebody require to enter or pass through a locked one that they do not have the key for.

Captains and Chief Officers have suddenly become responsible for numerous keys: like jailers to the prisoners they regulate access in and out of the steel blocks.

REACTIONS TO ISPS

Reactions to the landing on the deck of ISPS have been total acceptance and immediate implementation.

The strangest "thing" is that nobody has said anything in its disfavour. Nobody has stood up and complained or pointed out the inadequacies of its implementation and adoption or the inherent problems that now exist in practical life on shipboard. Nobody has shouted out about the extra work and stress that has been placed on seafarers shoulders and nobody has suggested that extra staff should be carried onboard to carry out the extra duties involved in the implementation and operation of the ISPS systems.

Nobody has sat back to think and then say "that ship hijackings, piracy and attacks on the high seas never stopped since the days of sail and the skull and crossbones. That hijacking was a real threat before ISPS was dreamt up." Nobody has said that "the implementation of ISPS has put on the backburner all safety issues and has thus wiped out years of induction and awareness of seafarers on the subject."

THE AUDITS

A recent audit conducted by an ABS surveyor took nine hours to complete. Everybody onboard this small 60 meter vessel was grilled and the intensity and depth of the questions outweighed any previous ISM or safety audit held on that vessel previously. In fact a recent ISM audit on the same vessel took 3hrs to complete and pass and resulted in only a couple of deficiencies as concerned the paperwork side of the matter. A recent Annual survey of the vessel only took one hour to complete whilst the surveyor sipped coffee and sharpened his pencil.

But one notable factor that puts ISPS (and ISM) to shame raised its head during the ISPS audit on the above mentioned vessel. The auditor during his nine hour grilling of ships staff and during his long periods of paperwork review hardly noticed or looked at the security measures actually in place. The locks on the doors that had been recently fitted; the security devices on the hatches and the portable lights that had been specially made received not one glance. It is these very devices that will prevent unauthorised access to the vessel; it is these devices that will decide the outcome of any attack or attempt to hijack the vessel and no amount of paperwork will have any say in the outcome of these attacks. These security devices will remain with the vessel for its life and proper and authorised inspections should have been made on their correctness and suitability by auditors during their inspections. But as with ISM, paperwork has taken over as the very essence of the system and practical and physical aspects have been relegated to the sidelines.

Another ISM audit on a similar vessel resulted in nine deficiencies being found - all of which where simple errors in the paperwork - one of which was an incorrect filing. The same vessel also failed its ISPS audit simply because the vessel had no filing of the companies head office address, even though its regional offices where listed and through which the vessel dealt. And again the auditor did not leave the comfort of the airconditioned bridge during his whole nine hours onboard.

ISPS IS HERE TO STAY

Despite all of the negative propaganda above ISPS is here to stay even if it is an American pushed idea that has not been thought through in a practical manner and without the involvement of seafarers in its design, production and implementation.

As it is here to stay maybe it is not too late for ship owners and managers to address and to look closer at some of the safety issues highlighted by the implementation. Maybe through this they will realise that their part might be more than merely sending all Chief Officers on Security courses and arranging auditors to visit their boats. That those old and relegated health and safety issues might have to be brought back to the forefront and if possible run alongside instead of behind ISPS issues.

Maybe they might actually realise that some vessels just don't have the personnel to cope with all the extra stress and duty involved in ISPS implementation.

IN SHORT

Somebody somewhere should be highlighting the restrictions placed on seafarer's freedom on and off their ships, that health and safety have become secondary issues and that stress onboard has increased hyperbolically in recent years.

And for the average seafarer the thought of having ones bags searched by an untrained and unqualified GP who wouldn't know the difference between a set of chopsticks and a detonator should be looked into.

And certainly the image of a suspicious character as: "sweating profusely, disorientated, nervous and shifty looking whilst clutching a plastic carrier bag to his chest", might about cover every seafarer after a drinking bout ashore.