ISPS Certification Crisis

By The Maritime Executive 2003-11-05 00:01:00

It has now been ten months since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code and with only nine months remaining before the mandatory compliance date of July 1, 2004, officials are justifiable concerned.

Contrary to the expectations of some in the industry, IMO has not considered granting any extensions or exemptions for compliance, and there are no indications that it will. As previous experience shows IMO's adherence to time tables, such as with the implementation of the ISM Code, the ISPS deadline will not be changed.

This has enormous implications for owners and operators:

Up to 30,000 ships must be certificated during the next nine months, in other words, an average of 123 Ship Security Plans must be approved and verified between November 1, 2003 and July 1, 2004!

As the due date for certification approaches, the combined resources of the flag states and security organizations will be unable to provide approval and verification services to ensure full compliance and, companies will find themselves competing for scarce certification resources.

Ships without ISPS certification will be denied entry to ports of contracting governments, which will inevitably prevent them from trading.