Throughout this article, we ’ ll cover everything you ’ ll want to know about :
Maritime security is a speciate field in the marine sector, and safety officers must employ best practices to defend their vessel against both internal and external threats. These threats come in diverse forms, and each requires a different scheme for a proper defense. Security risks are not always malicious, but maintaining vessel safety is a constant priority .
In this scout to maritime security, we ’ ll take you through some of the coarse threats to operations, how modern officers are dealing with these threats and what the future for marine security could look like.
What Is Maritime Security?
Maritime security is a general term for the auspices of vessels both internally and outwardly. The areas from which ships and nautical operations need protecting include terrorism, plagiarism, looting, illegal traffic of goods and people, illegal fishing and contamination .
Through supervision, inspection and proactive procedures, the marine industry does its best to minimize threats to maritime security system, both malicious and accidental. And as the diligence evolves and the marine sector grows, watchfulness, enforcement and coach will have to keep up with technology and increased opportunity for threats .
Since 9/11, there ’ sulfur been an increase focus on protecting the marine sector from terrorism and early exchangeable attacks, both in port and at sea. several state and external organizations have formed to help set standards for bettering nautical security. Since the marine sector is therefore huge and the massive measure of goods entering the state is unmanageable to screen, every precaution possible to minimizing malicious exploitation is critical .
security is not lone the job of vessel base hit officers, but the job of the gang as a hale, which is why it ’ s therefore all-important for companies to educate and train their employees so their vessels have a better find of stopping security threats .
Common Security Issues
In today ’ s marine industry, ensuring security conformity is a complex undertaking, as there is much to look over and many ways a security transgress can happen .
security system officers not only need to be argus-eyed to prevent attempts to undermine the state ’ second laws and security, but they besides need to know how to be argus-eyed against local and internal threats. small-scale attacks can still be harmful to a nautical party and can result in the passing of lives, austere environmental damage or damage to company property. here are a few of these types of risks .
Thievery
When transporting valuable goods and resources, there are sometimes attempts at the local degree to steal these goods from vessels. Security officers need to be argus-eyed for this reason both in port and at ocean, to make certain valuable and medium cargo is impregnable .
Trespassing
security officers must make certain that when their vessel is in port, no unauthorized personnel come aboard and tamper with sensitive equipment. even if the attested crew members carry out vessel operations correctly, a intruder can tamper with cargo rig and early sensible gear, which can lead to dangerous consequences at sea .
large-scale security measures refer things that can happen on an international scale, normally as the result of more malicious operations than individual crimes, like terrorism, environmental crimes, smuggling and traffic .
Terrorist Threats
advanced advances in telecommunications and international commercial logistics have increased the range and avenues open to terrorists. Criminals sometimes attempt to use nautical transport channels to transport dangerous weapons and materials .
Terrorists use fare avenues because they can move goods and even people to advance their cause, and the marine ship industry is a prime target. They use shipping industries in attempts to damage ball-shaped, political and economic security, adenine well as the safety of citizens. Security officers must be argus-eyed and knowledgeable about the pathways terrorists can use to attack .
Since the nautical shipping sector is by nature an external business, marine professionals must do everything they can to protect their vessel and area from these kinds of threats .
Illegal Maritime Trade
A side effect of increasing nautical trade and economic globalization is that it will facilitate the expansion of multinational crime. Trafficking in drugs, arms and people is already big clientele, and nautical transport is a crucial method of tape drive .
International crimes will not disappear anytime soon, and maritime security must help minimize their banquet. The more illegal cargo the ship industry can stop at the generator, the less damage the cargo will do once it reaches its address — by keeping the unlawful products and weapons out of the hands of criminals .
With every ship vessel carrying hundreds of large containers, it ’ s unmanageable for security to check each one thoroughly. Criminals know this, and use it to their advantage. Smuggling networks will attempt to get around security measures and the ship industry because its enormousness and scale make it an easy prey .
Smuggling is not exclusive to the ship industry, as criminals will sometimes attempt to use other types of vessels to get their bootleg past international borders.
Read more: How Maritime Law Works
just as the oceans are the highways by which we transport a large number of our goods, they ’ ra besides the highways for the import and export of illegal items. Organized and international crime organizations use the embark industry to transport large masses of their product, as we can see when we look at the many large-scale drug busts throughout the years. not only do they smuggle drugs, but they may besides smuggle firearms and other illegal technology that fetches a high price on the black grocery store .
Piracy
plagiarism may seem like an idea from the past, but large ships carrying millions of dollars worth of cargo still tempt criminals to attack ships. today ’ south pirates and criminals are normally well-organized and equipped with advanced communication and equipment .
ample aim and experience in maritime security can help crew members prepare for and deal with a plagiarism fire safely .
Human Trafficking
Human traffic is another one of the chief issues that face international marine security. Illegal migration has been present in the maritime sector for a long time — whether it ’ s people escaping political agitation or unwilling people being trafficked. It ’ s unmanageable for the nautical industry to catch all the illegal immigration, but proper marine security techniques help minimize the trouble .
Environmental Damage
Because large-scale commercial operations take home in the ocean ecosystem, there will inevitably be incidents that harm the environment. It ’ s the job of marine security officers to help ensure that their vessel ’ mho operations harm the environment a little as potential. Proper safety and security protocols are the best strategies to avoid disasters, specially in the petroleum diligence .
Security Tactics
so, what do security officers do day by day to ensure incidents don ’ metric ton happen ? Let ’ s look at some of the best practices a vessel security officer, or VSO, carries out .
- Regularly inspect the vessel: To monitor and ensure security measures, every security officer needs to be vigilant on their vessel and always be looking for anything out of the ordinary.
- Oversee maintenance to improve security: If there’s anything aboard the ship that doesn’t comply with best security measures, it’s the job of officers to take care of it the right way.
- Manage the coordination and handling of cargo: When loading and unloading cargo, a security officer needs to make sure to do everything according to protocol and ensure proper checks take place, as well as inspection of vessel stores and bunkers.
- Proposing modifications: If there are any modifications to the security plan for the vessel, it’s the job of the VSO to suggest these to the company security officer, so they can make a company-wide change to improve security.
- Report problems: If a vessel audit discovers anything wrong, it’s the security officer’s job to report it to the company safety officer so they can promptly implement corrective actions.
- Assuring security awareness and vigilance: It’s not only the job of the VSO to monitor and be vigilant about anything out of the ordinary, but the role of other crew members as well. The safety officer should inspire the crew to be on alert and report potential threats.
- Implement security training: It’s the job of safety officers to train their crew members about how to behave during normal operations and emergency operations of security.
- Report and record security incidents: Anytime there’s something out of the ordinary, it’s the security officer’s job to note and report their findings to the senior security officer and the company security cfficer.
- Ensure screening programs: The VSO needs to run screening programs like transportation worker identification credential checks that clear crew members to work around the vessel by passing background tests.
- Monitor security equipment: A security officer must ensure security equipment is properly operated, tested, calibrated and maintained.
- Supervise and support crew members: A vessel’s security officer needs to make sure the crew members are acting according to the security plan and regulations for their ship.
Future Security Threats in the Maritime Industry
The maritime diligence is undeniably evolving. And with more and more operations being automated and engineering better, security will inevitably change excessively .
A lot of these improvements and advances are addressing the problem of visibility in the provision chain. immediately, there are many points in the shipping action where criminals have the opportunity to infiltrate and exploit. But as technology and riddle processes advance, security officers will merely be able to identify these weak spots better and ensure security for their vessels .
With these changes and updates to the nautical industry, security officers will have to adapt a well — particularly in the field of cybersecurity .
Cybersecurity at ocean means protecting the valuable data a company holds that criminals can exploit — including cargo information and employee details. Cybercriminals can besides hack the electronic systems that control vessels, which can result in hard and costly ramifications .
As engineering evolves, maritime security and protocols will need to change excessively, along with the development of the needed legal framework to support new shipping methods .
One example of technical development within the nautical diligence is the push toward completely automated ship vessels. A vessel without crew members, if perfected, would be a lot more cost-efficient for shipping companies, and potentially more tolerant to security threats — if a transport didn ’ metric ton necessitate crew members to operate it, limiting access to the vessel could reduce the gamble of piracy significantly .
Two norwegian companies have been working on in full automatic pistol ships, and expect to begin their outside operation in 2020. These ships could interpret real-time data based on information from other vessels, ports, weather conditions and more to operate at flower efficiency. however, these ships are still in the testing phases, and companies will likely be dull to adopt the in full automated ships because of concerns about indebtedness, cybersecurity and base hit .
Security Training Options at MITAGS
If you ’ ra interest in the worldly concern of ship security, there ’ s no better way to enter the field than by attending marine train academy. here at MITAGS, we offer a three-day course that gives crew members the cognition to become the intend vessel security system officeholder .
The program gives students the correct tools to perform their duties in a modern work force — based on the requirements of the Maritime Transportation Security Act. The naturally complies with the USCG Standards of Training and the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers .
We offer our vessel security prepare at our state-of-the-art campus in Linthicum Heights, Md. We feature advance pretense technologies that let students practice real-world applications that prepare them to step aboard a vessel with confidence.
Our knowing team of instructors is available to teach vessel security trail at caller locations, excessively. Our courses can incorporate the ship security officer course into business-specific exercises for your entire organization to learn. Our team can work with you to set the best meter and date to start the aim .
Maritime security has never been more critical than now. In a time where the transport industry is growing and engineering is quickly advancing, companies and crew members need to be up to date on the best security protocols to protect their vessel, crew members and their country .
If you have any early questions about our programs or security education, please don ’ thymine hesitate to contact us today for more data.
