- guardian.co.uk, Sunday December 8 2002 22.09 GMT
- The Observer, Sunday December 8 2002
Vessels passing close to rogue states or through regions where intelligence suggests a heightened risk of attack will be granted protection by jet fighters, warships and ground units.
The unprecedented security measures also apply to oil tankers and freight carriers to prevent terrorists wreaking havoc through major environmental disasters.
The regulations, drawn up under the auspices of the London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO), are the most radical security plans in the history of the shipping industry.
Security plans for 80,000 vessels will have to be drawn up by July 2004 to deal with a potential terrorism or piracy.
Government officials have already discussed the draft plans, which are set to be agreed by the IMO's 162 member states next Friday.
Experts believe the measures will finally bring the shipping sector in line with the aviation industry, which has dramatically tightened security following the 11 September atrocities.
The move comes amid growing concern among industry analysts that terrorists view passenger ships as a soft target. Britain has already been alerted to the threat of an attack on shipping or hijacking vessels for use as 'floating bombs'.
It follows a devastating attack on the oil tanker Limburg in October, when the vessel was moored in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen. Terrorists drove a small speedboat loaded with explosives at the tanker, rupturing both hulls and causing more than 90,000 barrels of oil to spew out.
The IMO measures will also require shipping companies to provide a team of on-board security staff at all times, as well as tightening protection at ports. In particular, vessels passing close to, or docking within, states suspected of containing al-Qaeda cells, such as Indonesia and Somalia, will be offered military protection. The burden of providing assistance will fall on the nearest coastal states.
John Whitlow, spokesman for the International Transport Workers Federation, who was present during the detailed IMO negotiations on last week, said that he was delighted at the breakthrough in maritime security which he has helped to formulate. 'We hope this will prove significant in eliminating any risk to passengers from terrorism but also the threat of piracy to crews.'
David Osler, industry editor for the newspaper Lloyd's List, confirmed that intelligence sources had been receiving warnings that a passenger ship could be a future al-Qaeda target. 'I wouldn't bet against a cruise ship being on the hit list next year. They are relatively soft targets with lots of affluent Westerners on board. It would be an obvious target given the enormous panic such an attack would cause.'
The measures will also help curb an alarming rise in piracy, which has increased fourfold since 1995. On average, two oil tankers are hijacked every month, and piracy attacks on the world's oceans increased from 253 to 271 last year.
In the past week alone there have been eight separate incidents on vessels including a number of gunpoint attacks off Indonesia.
The moves come after another week of reminders of the devastation any premeditated attack on an oil tanker might cause. Massive oil slicks appeared off the east coast of England, while at the same time anti-policing vessels from Britain continue to help clean up the consequences of the Prestige oil disaster off north-west Spain.
