IMO faces calls to enhance maritime security code amid rising threats

The International Association of Ports and Harbors has called on the International Maritime Organization to update the world's main maritime security regulatory framework, as escalating attacks on commercial shipping and emerging cyber and technology risks expose potential gaps in rules largely unchanged for more than two decades.

In a statement Nov. 5, the industry group representing roughly 400 ports and related businesses globally said there was a case for updated guidance around the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code to reflect modern port operations and strengthen cooperation between governments and industry.

Its survey of 181 maritime stakeholders rated the effectiveness of the existing framework at below 50% on average, with 83% identifying cybersecurity and digitalization as a weakness and 57% citing emerging technologies and automation.

The debate comes amid severe disruption to key energy shipping routes amid persistent security concerns. The International Maritime Organization has recorded over 120 incidents around the Strait of Hormuz, possibly more than 100 attacks in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and 19 attacks or piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean region this year, resulting in 24 verified seafarer deaths and potentially another 38 casualties.

Despite a recovery in recent months, S&P Global Commodities at Sea data shows Middle Eastern crude and refined products exports in October averaged 18.8 million barrels per day -- just 72% of the level seen before the outbreak of US-Iran war in late February.

Jeremy Greenwood, head of the IMO's Maritime Security Section, welcomed further discussion on the ISPS code but stressed that increasing threats did not necessarily mean the regulation itself was fundamentally flawed.

"I would argue that we may have more of an implementation problem than we have an instrument problem," Greenwood told the IAPH World Ports Conference in London Nov. 5.

Adopted in 2002 and mandatory since 2004 under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the ISPS Code sets security requirements for ships and ports, covering access controls, threat assessments, security plans and operational procedures.

Code revamp

A US proposal this year said the code had not undergone a significant revision since adoption despite evolving security threats to merchant shipping.

Timothy Brown, chief of the Office of Standards Evaluation and Development at the US Coast Guard, said cyberattacks and anti-drone measures involved "very different threat factors that just did not exist 20 years ago."

Security disruption also has direct consequences for commodity markets, with attacks or tighter security measures potentially disrupting cargo operations, constraining vessel availability and raising freight and insurance costs.

"Anything that creates that friction in the port reduces the efficiency of the port, reduces the efficiency of the supply chain and has both security and economic implications," Brown said in the conference.

Peter Van Parys, COO of North Sea Port and chair of IAPH's Risk & Resilience Committee, called for a more effective framework rather than simply expanding regulation, saying the industry needed "not a bigger ISPS, but perhaps a more effective one" that focuses on emerging risks and scrutinize outcome of implementation.

The IMO is due to hold the next meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee during Dec. 14-18, where proposals concerning the ISPS framework and wider port security are tabled for discussion.