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Terrorist threat stirs Asian shipping
By Raja M
MUMBAI - Daniel Tan fears the next big terrorist attack will occur on the high seas. As secretary general of the Federation of ASEAN Shipowners' Associations (FASA), Tan has urged Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders to take joint action against potential attacks and continued piracy.
The region's economy will be battered if terrorists strike an oil or chemical tanker, he warns. Worse, security experts dread terrorists using a shipping container to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction such as a nuclear warhead, or, no pun intended, to deliver one.
Tan's warning comes in the wake of the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) issuing a new International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, known as the ISPS Code. By July 1, 55,000 ships and 20,000 port facilities worldwide must implement a new, three level security regime.
Even governments such as India's that do not look kindly upon the IMO, readily agreed to adopt the ISPC Code in December 2002. Launched in aftermath of the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, the code will rule international shipping: passenger ships, high-speed passenger crafts, cargo ships including high-speed crafts over 500 gross tonnage. After the July deadline, any vessel without an International Ship Security Certificate showing ISPS Code compliance will lose its right to maritime trade.
Ship to shore signals
The ISPS Code will require a ship security alert system that can covertly notify shore authorities in the event of trouble and development of long range identification and tracking systems for ships, among other measures. The code also demands clear details on the ownership and origin of the ship. Besides terrorism and piracy, the ISPS Code aims to fight smuggling, human trafficking and arms running.
The threat of a terrorist strike and the growing incidence of piracy in 2003 were a combination too frightening to ignore for the maritime industry that carries 80 percent of global goods. In a world where pirates generally conjure images of theft of intellectual property such as software, movies, music and books, 21st century versions of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd routinely wreak havoc on ships at sea (see Jolly Roger business, Aug 14, 2001). Pirate attacks have tripled over the past decade, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and continue accelerating, with financial losses from maritime crime conservatively estimated at US$16 billion.
IMB reported 416 pirate attacks worldwide during the first nine months of 2003, compared with 271 during the same period of 2002. IMB - a division of the International Chamber of Commerce focused on crime prevention and based in Essex, England - runs a piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur and publishes a weekly summary of pirate attacks worldwide.
Tempting terror targets
IMB's weekly summaries could get bleaker. Merchant navies could be tempting targets for terrorists, particularly as the US-led occupation of Iraq continues and security tightens in airports and overland. Security consultants say there's evidence that al-Qaeda has noted vulnerabilities at sea. A worried Lloyd's of London has ranked an attack on a cruise ship to be "a high likelihood".
Tan's FASA represents over 8,885 ships among 460 ship owners and shipping companies in the ASEAN region. The Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia, used by over 600 ships daily, has long held first place for shipping lane piracy. Tan warns that ships may use alternate routes if piracy is not curbed.
Tan's worries about the twin dangers of terrorism and piracy are shared worldwide. In December, the United Kingdom shipping industry urged the UN to act against pirates. The International Transport Workers Federation also joined in the chorus. More than 30 countries have sought IMO help to implement the ISPS Code.
The Mumbai-based Indian National Ship Owners Association (INSA) is helping members implement the ISPS Code. S K Bhalla, an advisor to INSA, agrees that maritime shipping presents a soft target for terrorists. He tells Asia Times Online that 200 Indian ships will be covered by the code and that 70 percent of the ships will have their security plans ready this month. In addition, 13 major Indian ports, 36 minor ports and 10 shipyards will have to comply.
The biggest difficulty in ISPS Code compliance has been availability of required security equipment such as ship alerts, Bhalla complains. The Code is reportedly fueling a maritime security business boom estimated at more than $1 billion.
Container confidence
Other maritime security measures are already in place. The US engineered the Container Security Initiative (CSI) to protect the estimated 48 million full cargo containers that move between the world's major seaports annually. Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Yokohama and Shanghai are among leading Asian ports implementing CSI, and Malaysia and Thailand say they'll also comply.
CSI, under the Border and Transportation Security directorate in the new US Department of Homeland Security, also allows reciprocal security measures. A team of US officers are stationed in Hong Kong, the world's leading container handling port, scrutinizing approximately 560,000 sea containers bound for US harbors annually, and Hong Kong customs officials are stationed in the US to check containers heading towards their port.
CSI measures include electronic sensors that will show if a container's doors have been tampered with, devices expected to be in place by the end of this month, making it evident that terrorism fears are providing international cures to fight the menace of maritime crime and other ills afflicting international trade.
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