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          Shipping Stevedoring Port Services Hydrocarbons Diving  Sep-Oct 2008 
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US$186 million funds fleet of 6017 November 2003
The 2004 U.S. defense authorization bill, which contains authority for the government to expand the Maritime Security Program (MSP), passed the Congress and is on its way to the president's desk for signature, the Sea Marine Electronics union of the US reports. MSP SCOREBOARD- The Senate passed the 400 billion dollar legislation November 12 by a vote of 95 to 3. The House approved the legislation November 7. The legislation will increase the country's U.S.-flag commercial-based Maritime Security Fleet from 47 container and roll-on/roll-off vessels to 60 ships, including five product tankers. The legislation also raises the federal government payment to the carriers from 2.1 million dollars per ship per year to 2.6 million dollars per ship for fiscal years 2006-2008, increasing the amount to 3.1 million dollars per ship for fiscal years 2012-2015. The Maritime Security Program, initially established by the 1996 Maritime Security Act, was set to expire September 30, 2005. BT.... SECURITY MATTERS-The terrorist threat to shipping and ports remains extremely high, in part because port authorities and governments are not implementing new security guidelines quickly enough, maritime experts and officials were told November 12. Tough regulations aimed at improving maritime security were agreed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in December 2002. The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code was agreed as a way of improving ship and port security measures and ensuring the two complement each other. However, of the IMO's 163 member nations only a handful have achieved the new standards and concerns are growing that ships using flags of convenience may evade the guidelines. Shipping companies are accused of being reluctant to take the lead in instigating the required changes, while governments are failing to allot adequate resources to upgrade port security. In the past 12 months there's been a paralysis in the industry, said the managing director of Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants, at a conference on maritime security in London November 12. In a lot of countries the paralysis has been caused by people waiting for governments to tell them what to do, he said, adding that by the time the deadline for implementing the ISPS code was reached in July 2004 there will be a bit of a fudge.
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