Ports scramble for standards

By PAM GRAHAM and REUTERS

Seventeen of New Zealand's 19 ports are not yet compliant with new global security standards effective on July 1.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) this week accused the world's shippers of dragging their feet on security issues and told the Lloyd's List newspaper that of 147 signatory nations, only Singapore and India were compliant with regards to ports.

IMO Secretary General Efthimois Mitropoulos criticised Governments for failing to play their part in the biggest toughening of security in the maritime world since World War II.

The Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the implementation in New Zealand, is confident ports will make the looming deadline.

It has so far approved Napier and Timaru ports as compliant. Officials are charging around the country checking and making revisions to plans ports have put in, a spokeswoman for the authority said.

She said one or two ports might not make the deadline but every effort was being made to achieve it.

The Director of Maritime Safety, Russell Kilvington, said this month when approving Timaru that if ports did not meet the new security standards, overseas ports could refuse entry to ships carrying New Zealand exports or refuse to send ships to New Zealand.

After the September 11 atrocities in the United States, the IMO moved to toughen its rules to combat terrorism.

The aim is to reduce the number of people on board ships and in port areas and to identify those who are there.

The cost of improving security to individual ports is up to $1 million and carrying out the audits has been a major project, particularly for smaller ports.

Barrie Saunders, a consultant to port company chief executives, said all New Zealand ports were expecting to be compliant by next month.