Port security by Mark Hankey, pictured, Head of Marketing at Maritime & Underwater Security Consultants (MUSC).
Ports are the lifeblood of most of the world’s countries – a disruption in one of them can create chaos thousands of miles away. For example a major industrial accident in a UK south coast port facility recently caused a significant downturn in production in a car manufacturing facility. Further afield an asymmetric terrorist attack on an oil tanker in 2002 off the port of Yemen caused an immediate loss of revenue of $3.8 million per month and the ultimate loss of 3000 port workers jobs, internationally the oil price also rose on receipt of this bad news – not bad work for a small fibre glass boat and 150kgs of TNT!<br><br>Nowadays the protection of a port and its environs is accepted practice across the globe with a range of international, government and civilian initiatives in place trying to stem the import and export of terrorism and criminal activities by sea. For example as of January this year the EU has mandated that customs authorities must be informed of all inbound cargo 24 hours before it is even loaded on to a vessel in a non European port!<br>Technology also plays a part in this new crusade – as we have recently seen in the aviation sector not a lot gets on board a plane without being scanned and verified – this is a little more difficult in the maritime sector which accounts for the movement of around 90 per cent of world trade (by volume). It takes over 50,000 seagoing vessels passing their goods through over 19000 terminals to keep the world fed, clothed and sheltered a significant proportion of this is moved in sealed metal containers. The USA have an aspiration to get to 100pc scanning within a few years – this will be a difficult ask. <br><br>So what skills and expertise can the UK contribute to the safety of ports around the world – in a word – lots! Before a vessel even arrives at a port it may need profiling by a number of agencies – in the UK we have two world leading vessel profiling organisations dedicated to doing just that. The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) is a set of globally applied regulations aimed at standardising security standards across the globe – Maritime & Underwater Security Consultants (MUSC) and other such UK companies have a wealth of experience advising ports on how to implement the code as well as train and exercise the security workforce. Other considerations include a whole host of physical protection solutions – for example specialist fencing, CCTV, diver detection systems, radar monitoring to name but a few.<br><br>In summary the very globalisation of our societies has led to a globalisation of security problems – it is easy for criminals and other nefarious organisations to export crime and terror by sea (think drug smuggling or the Mumbai attacks). This is why effective port security using a variety of technical and manpower supplied solutions can go a long way to keeping not just ports and terminals, but also the countries they are in a lot safer. In a nutshell port security matters.<br><br>About the author, MUSC<br><br>Mark Hankey served with the Royal Naval Reserve, initially as a Seaman Officer then as a member of the Royal Navy’s Media Operations Specialisation and in 2003 saw action in Kuwait and Iraq. After this he became their media spokesman and finally headed their web strategy. In 2006 Mark left the Navy and joined Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit as their Marketing Director. In 2009 he joined Maritime & Underwater Security Consultants as Head of Marketing and Communications.<br><br>MUSC is a contractor member of the International Marine Contractors Association. It’s a division of security contractor ICTS whose services include aviation security, manned guarding and canine searches.
