Page 24: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2002)

^.u.ac cupping Annual

Card-Carrying Members Only

SIGNATURE This, card shouia be kept with during your cruise and wnenovsr leaving tho vessel. Vim; will be requirsd to present Si Is card 10 'ft-board tno ship. A suggested 15% gratuity will automatically be added to all bar purchases unless otherwise noted. Minimum drinking age is 21. Lost cards should be reported '..-> the

Pursers Office .mmediately

SISCO's A-Pass (Automated Personnel Assisted Security Screening) system is a high-speed interac- tive photo identification and access control solution specifically designed to provide tracking, screening and identification of passengers and personnel.

Imagine having your picture taken as soon as you board any cruise vessel.

While cruise lines have been observing this practice for many years for enter- tainment purposes, a new kind of photo has since come into play — the high speed interactive photo I.D. Developed by Security Identification Systems Cor- poration (SISCO), A-Pass (Automated

Personnel Assisted Security Screening), provides a picture of each guest — even before boarding the ship — via a kiosk that stores each passengers photo upon insertion of their boarding card. Every- one who boards, even ships' officers are required to observe this practice, which was presented before a Senate Subcom- mittee on Capitol Hill on January 9.

By Regina P. Ciardiello, managing editor

The A-Pass, which had already been installed onboard vessels belonging to major cruise lines prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, has proven to be a vital tool not only for security pur- poses, but also to ensure that everyone onboard is accounted for before the ves- sel enters and departs each port. The

I < liimival ('.mi.sr I Jims

M/S IMAGINATION system, which allows ships' personnel to monitor who gets on and off the ship, also records how many times each per- son leaves and enters the vessel. Gone are the days where passengers could just flash their photo I.D. such as a driver's license and would be waved through by ship's security personnel. In fact, this "soft" procedure is one that drew

SISCO's president, Anthony Zagami to the development of A-Pass and its func- tion when he observed a firsthand account of just how onboard security was handled. "Security was always taken lightly," Zagami said. "Now because of the recent events that occurred (September 11), the govern- ment is taking a full-fledged stand on security and is taking every threat seri- ously."

Zagami, who, when vacationing on a cruise with his wife in 1994, saw how easy the boarding process was, decided to come out of retirement to develop

SISCO, the West Palm Beach, Fla. secu- rity company that he has headed since 1996. No stranger to the industry, as he had headed a security company for 25 004

Just visiting? Cruise lines featuring the A-Pass system will require you to be a card-carrying member as well. years in New York prior to retiring,

Zagami, who also worked for Lockheed

Martin in its aerospace division, wanted to develop a product, that was cruise specific and that would record real-time data for not only the cruise line itself, but also for the government agencies.

Another benefit besides its function as a tracking device is that it can detect if someone is missing from the ship -— a problem that has plagued cruise lines (continued on page 53)

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