The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN’s specialized agency for shipping in general and maritime transportation security in particular, is developing a “Port and Ship Security Manual” for “Contracting Governments, Ship operators and other persons who have to implement” SOLAS Chapter XI-2 and the International Ship & Port Facility (ISPS) Code. Thus far it appears that a draft manual has been produced and presented to the “IMO Peer Review Group” for review.
Last Thursday, the President signed an Executive Order that “establishes an open and uniform program for managing information” that is not classified but “requires safeguarding or dissemination controls.” Designed to replace designations, and their associated procedures and markings, that various federal agencies have developed to safeguard and control such information with an information management program that “emphasizes the openness and uniformity of Government-wide practice.” (The Government Accountability Office identified 56 different labels in a 2006 report and a recent New York Times article claims there are “almost 120 markings.”)
The US Maritime Administration (MARAD) has issued Advisory 2010-10 that confirms the validity of the claim of responsibility by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades (AAB) for the suicide attack on the tanker M Star in the Strait of Hormuz on July 28th. The Advisory further warns that AAB “remains active and can conduct further attacks on vessels in areas in the Strait of Hormuz, Southern Arabian Gulf, and Western Gulf of Oman.” The explosion of the suicide boat adjacent to the M Star injured one crew member and caused some damage to the tanker, but did not result in an oil spill or halt vessel traffic through the vital waterway. The AAB, which have been linked to al Qaeda, had previously claimed responsibility for bombings in three Egyptian Red Sea resort towns in 2004-2005 and a rocket attack on US Navy warships visiting the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba in 2005.
A press release from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN’s specialized agency for maritime transportation security and safety, describes the agenda for the 88th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), which starts tomorrow and will last through December 3rd. While the lead items are safety-related amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), two items are maritime security issues.