Commandos to customs, Israel leads marine security

By DAN WILLIAMS

ABOARD "ISLAND TRADER", Mediterranean Sea - For Captain Valeri and his crew, the Israeli boarding party was a musclebound introduction to security precautions that may soon be as common to the world's seaports as bars and brothels.

First to clamber up to "Island Trader" as it neared Haifa port on Thursday were five Uzi-wielding naval commandos. Then came customs and immigration agents, followed by a military sapper who hoisted his bomb-sniffer Labrador aboard in a sling.

"It is not a big surprise," said the Ukrainian skipper, clutching a cargo manifest and a neat stack of the 10 crewmen's passports on the tanker deck. "We've been preparing for this sort of thing, as required by ISPS."

The International Ship and Port Facility Security code, a slew of anti-terror regulations that the United States pushed through the United Nations in the wake of September 11, 2001, for fear of al Qaeda sea attacks, goes into effect globally next month.

Analysts say ISPS is partly modelled on the Jewish state's maritime security, considered the tightest in the world, and Israeli consultants are much in demand as countries move to implement it by July 1.

It requires the training of on-board ship and company security officers, emergency procedures to deal with a terror attack, and a raft of security upgrade measures in ports and coastal terminals.

However, ISPS non-compliance is still rife, analysts say, especially among cash-strapped Third World countries. Weighed against budget constraints is the fact that, under ISPS, ships that are not certified can be held up at sea or turned away.

"A day's hold-up would cost tens of thousands of dollars, depending on vessel type," said David Osler of Lloyd's List.

The Cypriot-registered Island Trader was cleared to enter Haifa and load oil after 63 minutes, although the customs agents did net 24 cartons of undeclared cigarettes in hand. Valeri was fined US$400 ($656) for the infraction.

Wary of seaborne Arab guerrilla raids and attempts to smuggle arms to Palestinian militants in the occupied Gaza Strip, Israel has for decades kept a close eye on its coast, which handles 35 million tonnes of international trade a year.

An Israeli naval commander said incoming vessels were vetted by radio contact while at their port of origin -- a lesson learned in 1978 when a rocket-laden ship was intercepted en route to the southern Eilat port, and blown out of the water.

"We then contact them three more times before they reach our territorial waters," said Lieutenant-Commander Ronni. "There is always pressure from Israeli shipping agents to keep things moving, which has to be balanced against the risk of a floating mega-bomb being delivered and detonated on our shores."

"Israel's maritime security regime is widely accepted as the tightest and most reliable in the world," said Jane's analyst Thomas Orszag-Land.

"Its experts have been deeply involved in drawing up the provisions now globally prescribed by the ISPS."

- REUTERS