Shipowners plead for “rationality” on eve of ISPS code deadline
Shipowners plead for “rationality” on eve of ISPS code deadline
The London-based International Chamber of Shipping, an international federation of associations of shipowners, called for “rigor but rationality” among governments around the world on the eve of the July 1 implementation deadline of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code of the International Maritime Organization.
The International Chamber of Shipping expressed this plea as it becomes clear that many ships and ports outside the United States will fail to meet the deadline, making it likely that ships unable to demonstrate compliance could suffer hold-ups and even possible denial of entry to certain ports.
Efthimios Mitropoulos, IMO's secretary general, has also called for a pragmatic and realistic approach in the period following entry into force of the code. The IMO said today Mitropoulos was optimistic any disruption of trade would be avoided or at least kept to an absolute minimum.
The International Chamber of Shipping said governments and port state control authorities should “temper rigor with rationality during the immediate enforcement of the ISPS code, in order to avoid unnecessary disruption to the flow of world trade and the movement of goods in ports.”
“In just over 18 months, and at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, the shipping industry has trained thousands of ship security officers, conducted on-board security assessments and prepared detailed ship security plans as required,” said Chris Horrocks, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping. The shipowners’ association called this result “an impressive achievement,” but also said the delay by some flag states in processing applications for approval of security plans and issuing ISPS code certificates “has been a disappointment.”
“There can be no excuse for ships which have simply ignored all the warnings, and we expect port state inspectors to apply the code with rigor,” Horrocks said. “But this must be tempered by common sense.”
It would be “ironic” if security measures designed to protect world trade simply caused disruption after July 1, the shipowners’ association said.
Like other organizations, the International Chamber of Shipping is concerned about the readiness of ports to meet the July 1 deadline, and about the implications for compliant ships that call at non-compliant ports. “There will clearly be problems if ships are seriously penalized for failures on the part of ports over which the ship has no control ' yet another reason why we are calling for a rational response by port state control inspectors,” Horrocks said.
The International Chamber of Shipping stressed that it will be vital for ports to cooperate fully with requests from ships made necessary by the ISPS code, including the completion of formal declarations of security.
In cooperation with the so-called “round table” of international shipping associations, the International Chamber of Shipping is encouraging shipping companies to complete an “industry feedback report” on any incident that may occur as a result of actions taken by port state control authorities when enforcing ISPS. The aim of this information gathering from the industry is to raise the problems with the IMO or individual administrations. The “round table” of shipping associations includes the International Chamber of Shipping, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, Intercargo and Intertanko.
Yet, among major shipowning and port groups, the news is that they have largely implemented the ISPS code in time. Hutchison Port Holdings, the world’s largest container port operator, said Wednesday all of its ports to which the ISPS code is applicable are in full compliance. Hutchison operates 35 ports in 17 countries. The Taiwanese shipping group Evergreen said Tuesday all owned vessels in the Evergreen fleet have been certified as ISPS-compliant since May 31, and that all chartered vessels are expected to have certificates by the July 1 deadline.
“All ports of call in North America for the group also are either already certified or awaiting the final certification from the United States Coast Guard,” Evergreen added.