Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2005)

The past three and one-half years have undoubtedly provided us with enhanced maritime security, but it has also had its occasional misfires, based largely on false assumptions by those involved in particular incidents.

Establishing Compliance Standards

Following the terrorist attacks of

September 11, 2001, the international community quickly realized the signifi- cant vulnerabilities present in the mar- itime transportation system. Over the previous 50 years, the system had evolved into one that was both highly efficient and highly open. It is the open- ness of the maritime transportation sys- tem that makes it at risk for infiltration by terrorists and use as an unwitting tool for terrorist activity. Even before the ter- rorist attacks in 2001, the U.S. Senate was considering ways to reduce the openness of the system. In 2000,

Senator Hollings (D-SC) introduced a bill to establish a program to ensure greater security for United States sea- ports. The primary focus of the bill was deterrence of crime and cargo theft on the waterfront, but provisions were included for reducing the risk of terror- ism. The measure was reintroduced in mid-2001. Following the terrorist attacks, emphasis of the bill was changed from crime to terrorism preven- tion. The bill was merged with a similar bill in the House of Representatives to become the Maritime Transportation

Security Act of 2002. On the interna- tional front, State Parties to the

International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention) adopted the International Ship and Port

Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The

ISPS Code and related amendments to the SOLAS Convention mandated the

State Parties to require security plans and enhanced security measures for cov- ered ships engaged in international com- merce and the port facilities servicing the covered ships. The ISPS Code came into effect on July 1, 2004.

Port State Control Measures

Port state control is the process by which a nation exercises limited author- ity over a foreign vessel in its waters.

The purpose of this limited exercise of authority is to determine whether the foreign vessel is in substantial compli- ance with applicable international requirements. The foreign vessel's cer- tificates are to be accepted unless there

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Government Update

Circle 242 on Reader Service Card

April 2005 17

Lemons, Tiles & False Assumptions

Dennis L. Bryant, Senior Maritime

Counsel at the law firm of Holland & Knight, Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of MR/EN.

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