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Port Safety, Efficiency and Security

Presented by Leonard Holder - Extra Master, MPhil, FNI, FRIN

Can we make ports safer, more efficient and more secure? An interesting question and the answer is almost certainly "Yes!". The next question is how? Here are a few examples.

Security
After a terrorist attack people often asked themselves "Why did someone not notice what was happening and prevent it?" Where someone did notice, and the attack is prevented, we do not hear much about it. Do you remember the M.V. LIMBURG Terrorist Attack¹ on the 6th October 2002? Before the incident, "The Cadet (on the bridge) saw a 4-5 meter fast boat approaching - he lost sight of the boat beneath the side of the ship and then there was an explosion". Was the cadet aware of the threat of a terrorist attack and even if he was, could he have alerted people in time to do anything about it? This depends upon ATTITUDE, AWARENESS and PREPARATION. Knowing what to expect and what to do - quickly. On board this training is the responsibility of the Ship Security Officer. Changing attitudes and raising awareness of dangers in port is the job of the Port Facility Security Officer. Training provider Videotel Marine International, working in conjunction with the International Maritime Organisation and a number of leading international port security authorities, has produced an interactive, computer-based training course which can form the basis of official Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) accreditation, as called for under the International Ship & Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. It not only teaches the PFSO what is needed to do the job, but provides training material to spread the word to all port workers and visitors. Port Security depends on everyone being alert.
¹ IUMI Loss prevention workshop Conference - Singapore 15 September 2004

Efficiency
I was once part of a Liverpool Polytechnic team asked to advise the old UK National Ports Council on how to make the passages in and out of port quicker and more efficient. They already knew the answer they wanted - bigger and better port radars to improve passages in poor visibility. We found that, in poor visibility, average passage times were about the same as in clear weather. A few fast ships slowed down, and the very slow ones could not hold their position in the fairways without going faster. What made the biggest difference was strong winds and with the increasing freeboard of modern ships, handling them in high winds needed special care. As is normal when consultants tell the truth rather than giving the answer the client wanted - we were dismissed and not asked to do more research. Much more recently, the handling of pure car carriers with their hull shape and high freeboard has shown how right we were and, thanks to Japan Captains' Association, there are two excellent videos available. The series uses this ship type to show the theory and the practice of ship handling in port areas. Many of the common problems of ship handling apply in the extreme to the PCC so its choice for use as an example in this series helps the understanding of basic principles. The two videos discuss from first principles some of the forces, coefficients and equations that determine the handling of ships.

Safety
Am I correct in thinking that, on an average day, most people do not think about dying? Especially when we are young, we feel as if we will live for ever. We know accidents happen to other people, but think they will not happen to us. If we have a strong religious faith, we think that God will look after us and so feel even safer. Until something happens to shock us! Encouraging a safety culture on ships and in ports is a tough job.

One way to raise awareness would be to work for one of the welfare organisations that visit the victims of port / ship accidents in hospital. One of the clearest days in my mind is deputising for the Chaplain Superintendent of Mersey Mission to Seafarers and visiting a young man in hospital whose foot has been cut off by a wire on a trawler. The week before, I had been making safety videos about slips and falls and leg injuries - my efforts were too little and too late for that young man. I went back to work on more training material, certain that if we did it well and got our message across, more people would go home safe to their families.

We have had a lot of discussion recently about how to raise safety awareness. I watch children enjoying cartoons in which cats, mice, roadrunners, ducks etc get squashed, blown up, pulled apart and exploded. It does not shock them. When making a new programme for sea and shore staff about the safe operation of hatchcovers, Videotel realised that to trip a real man and have him splattered on the tank top in the hold might be a bit dangerous, and we had seen how realistic some computer-generated people are these days, so we decided to approach the team that filmed the "Harry Potter" movies. When we came to see the "rough cut" version, I was shocked to see a real man trip and fall into the hold, and another real man having his hand on the coaming as the hatch cover rolled shut and cut off his fingers. I asked "Why didn't we use computer-generated images?" The answer "Not realistic enough!" I then asked about the health and welfare of the two actors, I was told "They are stunt men - that's what we pay them to do". I will not tell you whether they survived - I would not wish to spoil the story of the film, which will be out soon.

Shocking people into realising that they may be killed by a straddle carrier, a fork lift truck or a twist lock falling from a container is only the first step. Training must then start to build safe and effective working practices which are to be used ALL THE TIME, not just when someone is watching.

I would welcome your views:

© Leonard Holder 2006

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