Getting ready for ISPS the port perspective

While shipowners are coming under pressure to comply with the new ISPS Code, ports too have to prepare themselves. As the recent attack on a port in Iraq shows, ports and port facilities are just as much a terrorist target as shipping vessels themselves, as Liz Booth reports.

I n the lexicon of the international shipping industry, ‘S’ has always stood for safety. And although safety continues to be the number one priority for all serious shipping people, a new ‘S’ – security – is about to shoehorn its way into the maritime vocabulary in a big way. As of 1 July this year, the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) enters force.