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Training forms a vital element of maritime securityPresented by William O ‘Neil - President of Videotel Marine International (The article below appeared in Cargo Security International dated August/September 2005)
But it is a fact that we live in changing times and that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 the world is now a different place. It is a more dangerous place, and one in which security plays an increasingly important role. That is a different place is certainly the case in shipping, where the introduction of legislation such as the International Ship & Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code has served to focus the minds of shipping interests on security both on board ship and ashore. But it remains to be seen whether shipping is doing enough in terms of preparing its workforce for the challenges presented by the need to improve security, which are even more difficult because they extend across international boundaries. It is not just ships and their crews who face extra challenges and responsibilities, and increased exposure to danger, but port security is also vital. There have been instances of terrorists targeting ships while in port, and of port workers being threatened and injured. Ports have an important role to play in terms of assuring maritime security, and their responsibilities are therefore included and highlighted in the ISPS Code. Here, training and education has a vital role to play.
Training initiatives such as these have a fundamental role to play in the overall drive to improve security awareness in shipping. They are not simply products developed and launched in a void. They have taken into account the expressed needs of organizations such as IMO, BIMCO, the UK Department of Transport, the International Labour Organization, and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and have gained their support. They are also endorsed by leading ship operators and liability underwriters. Of course many of the people who are currently working in ports and in port security, are former seafarers who understand ship and ports. But the maritime industries are evolving in such a way that there is a very real possibility that we will encounter a shortage of people with seafaring backgrounds to fill these jobs in the not-too-distant future. This will be to the overall detriment of the safety and security of shipping. It has been said that complacency kills. At sea there is no room for complacency. Lives, and livelihoods, depend on attention to detail. The introduction of the ISPS Code has, predictably, not been without some problems. Speak to those people in the shipping industry who are charged with ensuring that ISPS requirements are met, and you will find how difficult a job it is, both practically and administratively, and how it threatens to undermine the basic quality of life for seafarers.
Modern seafarers work under increasing pressure and finding time to take on extra responsibilities is not easy. But security is a major issue, which shipping underestimates at its peril. In today’s security heightened environment, seafarers must take on responsibilities, which are additional to their normal duties, and to perform those duties properly, they must undergo extensive training. And fortunately there are some sophisticated training modules and programmes available. For instance the Ship Security Office training package, helps to provide the necessary training, and also allows shipowners to clearly show that their security responsibilities are being met. More is now demanded from shipping, by our political masters, by international law and by industry regulation, in ensuring that the threat of terrorism is properly and professionally addressed. But there is another fundamental matter which the shipping industry needs to deal with, which is every bit as important as making sure that its workforce is being properly educated and trained. However well the shipping industry responds to the important challenges which it faces, no response can be truly effective without a sufficient number of properly skilled personnel. But the truth is that the international shipping industry is facing a chronic recruitment problem, and that the maritime industries need to provide the proper environment, which will attract more young people to seafaring as a career. It is essential that the industry ensures a regular supply of properly trained, appropriately motivated professional seafarers. It makes no sense to continue to build bigger, more sophisticated ships if we have not put in place the training infrastructure needed to produce the skilled seafarers required to operate them safely and economically. All ships need competent crews, but the potential gap between the optimum position for the industry and the reality of the situation is arguably most alarming in terms of specialist ships such as gas and chemical tankers. These ships have remarkably good safety records, which can be directly attributed to the quality of the officers and seafarers who operate them. But by their very nature they also have complicated operating systems, which in unskilled hands could increase the potential for serious accidents. And while there is certain to be an increase in the numbers of such ships being built, can anybody be equally certain that the industry will be able to produce in sufficient numbers the seafarers equipped with the necessary skills to man them? It seems unlikely, unless more training opportunities are created now and these opportunities are maximized.
Meanwhile, all sectors of the shipping industry must work to ensure that the quality of life for today’s seafarers is not inadvertently, and unnecessarily, worsened in pursuit of making the maritime environment a more secure and safe place in which to operate. Of course seafarers want to be safe, but they also want to be relaxed. What we have to avoid is creating what one commentator recently described as the “Orwellian nightmare” that exists on board some ships, with crews denied the traditional respite of shore leave, remaining cooped up on board for months on end, and having to fill out an unprecedented volume of apparently needless - and sometimes contradictory - paperwork. This is not what people go to sea for. Nor will it ever be. The industry has to find a way to demonstrate that it has embraced the new security culture demanded of it, whilst retaining the essential nature of seafaring which has traditionally made it such an attractive vocation for so many people over hundreds of years. The first step towards achieving that objective is ensuring that all seafarers are aware of their responsibilities, and are properly educated and trained in all aspects of their duties and responsibilities. Seafarers are no different from people in other walks of life, in that they will do what is asked of them, with much better grace and greater understanding, if they know why they are being asked to do it. Too often, in the past, we have seen and heard instances of accidents and casualties at sea which have their root cause in human error. We can never eliminate that entirely. But shipping has to acknowledge that this will be improved if proper training and education are provided. In today’s comparatively buoyant industry, it is an investment that shipping interests should and can afford to make. In wider terms - whether in respect of security, safety, or pure commercial efficiency - it s an investment which they simply cannot afford not to make. I would welcome your views: | ||
SHIPPING is the most international industry in the world. That is part of its attraction and appeal; to everybody from entrepreneurial investors to transportation professionals. The shipping industry is also a vital component of world trade and development. Without ships, there would be no viable alternative means by which most cargoes could be moved from one part of the world to another, with the result that the commercial world we know would be completely different.
Specific new training developments include the launch, in association with IMO, of an interactive, computer-based training course which could form the basis of official Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) accreditation, as called for under the ISPS Code, and a ‘Know Your Port’ video which highlights the fundamental security requirements and potential threats faced by all ports today. The training course and the video combine to provide a complete training package designed to increase awareness and to improve security in ports throughout the world.
It is not unusual that with any completely new major industry regulation there should be teething problems. But many of the potential problems can be addressed by training and education. The shipping industry must recognize the need to support its ship and shore personnel by providing a structured career path based on education, training and continued professional development. This applies to all aspects of the industry, from professional and commercial excellence to basic maritime safety, which is inexorably linked to security.
The shipping industry must work harder to attract and keep the quality people it needs, but unfortunately there are now more extraneous factors than ever before, which could impact against a substantial growth in the core, seafaring workforce. The continued increase in national, regional and international laws and regulations affecting shipping and seafarers threatens to render shipping a less attractive vocation than at any time in the history of the industry. And the trend towards the criminalisation of seafarers — whether for security-related motives or as a result of political pressure to apportion blame in respect of pollution incidents - will discourage conscientious officers from accepting more senior responsibilities. No sanction should be introduced which would discourage people from becoming recruits to the maritime profession or from accepting positions of higher responsibility once in the chain of command. We need all the good people we can get and, once we have them, we need to keep them.