IMO PROMOTES INCREASED SHIP SECURITY
The International Maritime Organization said it will seriously review two treaties in 2002 and 2003 to imcrease ship security, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
IMO Secretary General William A. O’Neill said at the IMO’s recent Legal Committee that the attacks could not be ignored, especially because of threats of future attacks involving ocean transportation.
The Legal Committee will review the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf.
“Apart from any possible revision of practical preventative measures advocated by IMO, it is also important to ensure that criminals who have perpetuated acts of violence at sea be properly brought to trial and punished,” O’Neill said.