Maritime borders are wide open but Crimestoppers can help shut that door

[29 March 2007]

Britain's rugged coastline stretches for some 6,000 miles – a coast of contrasts as the scenery changes from estuaries, shingle beaches, salt marshes, sand dunes, rugged cliffs, sandy beaches and rocky shores to industrial harbours and oil refineries. It offers some of the best places in the country to visit… but it is also frighteningly vulnerable to lawless incursions by would-be terrorists and smugglers.

Only four eight-strong customs ship search (rummage) teams cover the whole of the UK, whereas the minimum they admit to needing is much more and with teams of 10 persons to be able to cover illness and holidays!

For all practical purposes our border 'front door' is wide open to the criminal fraternity. Therefore, it is clear that the maritime borders are wide open and the customs protection totally inadequate.

The shock disclosure by Mark Jefferson, the speaker from HM Revenue and Customs, rocked a high-powered maritime security seminar in Glasgow on 29 March.

“Maritime Security – ISPS CODE (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) is it working?" sparked a lively debate at the well-attended event given by the West of Scotland Branch of The Nautical Institute at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, which also featured Crimestoppers Scotland's shipping expert Captain Bill Wingate and National Co-ordinator Inspector Graeme Ross.

Our presentation was divided into several parts namely: Who Crimestoppers are, how we work, information about Crimestoppers' anonymous 24/7 phone number for passing on information about crime, and what happens to information once it is received.

The total anonymity afforded by Crimestoppers and the fact that we are not a part of the regulatory authorities such as the National Police, Customs, Coast Guard, Immigration etc was the attraction, he said.

He commenced by stating that, in his opinion, the ISPS was not just a ‘paper tiger' and a time consuming box ticking exercise to satisfy legal due diligence requirements - the ISPS Code was about self preservation and a failure to observe it could result in becoming a terrorist statistic and unemployment for the individual. Bill went on to explain that a vessel found to be in non-compliance could be considered to be unseaworthy in the legal sense, resulting in that vessel being unable to enter the ports of many trading nations and therefore unemployable.

It was stressed that whether we like it or not, ships will always be seen to be prime movers for smuggling, be it illicit drugs, illegal immigrants, potential terrorists and so on. It must be apparent to all that a large ship commandeered by terrorists could be used as an efficient battering ram for use against bridges, or it could be scuttled in the approach channel to a major port causing significant disruption, while an oil tanker set alight alongside a refinery terminal could create a major disaster.

It was pointed out that ships crews, because of the nature of their employment, may at times come into possession of information and intelligence, which could be valuable to the regulatory authorities.

Valuable intelligence can be highly perishable and needs to be passed to those equipped to act on it with minimum delay.

Bill went on to address the value of good intelligence. He pointed out that pirates have attacked, and in some cases captured, merchant ships for centuries and that it still goes on today in some parts of the world.

So in reality what is to stop the determined terrorist having a go at your ship? Certainly not the recommended high pressure fire hose even if an armour plated suit has been provided for the operator of the fire hose. Supplying ships with guns is not a viable option. However good intelligence used efficiently in the right quarters might just help.

It is an historical fact of life that both seafarers and their employers, be they ship owners or managers, are frequently reluctant to become involved in anything which might cause a delay to their vessel and the resultant loss in revenue.

Bill pointed out the availability of the Crimestoppers dedicated telephone number 0800 555 111 for use within the UK. He stressed that nobody will ask you who you are, but just what you know. It was also stressed that if we want to live in desirable law-abiding communities we cannot always leave it somebody else to make the necessary reports.

Inspector Graham Ross of Strathclyde Police carried on by explaining what happens when the phone rings at Crimestoppers' call centre. All information is sanitised so that the caller cannot be identified, before being passed on to the relevant law enforcement agency. He gave examples of how efficient the system is and the huge success of previous anti-drug campaigns. The available statistics were very impressive by anybody's standards. There were a few questions asked about anonymity but Graham left everybody in no doubt that no matter who calls Crimestoppers, anonymity is guaranteed.

The seminar was opened by the Capt Terry Hunter the chairman of the West of Scotland branch of the Nautical Institute who posed the question "Does the ISPS Code Work? This was followed by the first speaker Steven Jones who has recently published a book "Maritime Security: A Practical Guide". Steven took us through how the ISPS Code came into being, who wants to know if it is working and the various stages of maritime security.

Martyn Clark of Forth Ports gave a very illuminating and comprehensive presentation of what was involved in the planning and putting into operation of the maritime security requirements to cover the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in the summer of 2004. It was clearly a mammoth task successfully carried out.

The speakers from specialist supporting organisations, Michael Robertson of Douglas-Westwood, Geoff Williams and Dai Davies of Selecta Mark and the International Emergence Technical Response Institute and Ross McWilliams of CEM Systems Ltd, all gave very enlightening presentations on the current status and on what was available to assist in achieving the compliance objectives of the ISPS Code .

"Does the ISPS Code work?” The jury is probably still out on this particular issue, delegates concluded.