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Download PDF Following a collapse of the international standard ship security alert system in Chittagong and Mongla ports since Thursday afternoon, the ships failing to get information about the security situation there are maintaining high alert although the two ports now maintain the highest security level one.
Ships generally contact the security alert system for getting information about the security level in a port while there are three internationally recognised security levels in the ports, sources said.
In case of security level one, the ships call in a port without any hesitation, if it is two the ships take extra security measures before calling in the port while in case of security level three or lower, ships remain at the outer anchorage or leave the port area.
The security alert system established under International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code collapsed at 4:00pm on that day due to disconnection of three mobile phone sets used for the purpose, sources said.
The alert system was established to provide quick information to the ships and the installation of ISPS code was made compulsory on July 1, 2004.
Immediately after the alert system failure, Captain AKM Shafiqullah, director general (DG) of shipping, wrote to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) chairman asking him to restore the alert system by activating the mobile sets urgently.
“The continuation of the situation will make our ports and vessels non-compliant with the ISPS code, leading to major implication at national and international level,” wrote Captain Shafiqullah.
CPA Chairman AM Shahadat Hossain, on the other hand, termed the news of the security alert system collapse a ‘rumour’ and claimed that the ISPS codes have been 100 per cent maintained in the port.
Asked about the letter of the shipping DG, the CPA chairman said the port authority got the cell phones disconnected on the understanding that they were no longer required following full implementation of the ISPS code.
The collapse of security alert might be a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the port at the international level, said a CPA official requesting anonymity.
The ISPS alert system at Chittagong and Mongla ports facilitates any ship having a piracy, security incident or any other unlawful activity while in port or at sea to contact the ISPS cell.
After implementation of the ISPS system in July 2004, Bangladesh was listed in ‘white category’ in International Maritime Organisation.
The shipping agents and many shipping companies are desperately inquiring of the port authority about the security system failure, said a source.
Two ships of HRC Shipping and shipping agents failed to communicate with the ISPS cell due to the system failure while none of the ISPS officials could be contacted, the source said.
The CPA stopped taking the services of those three vital cell phones without prior notice, keeping the shipping agents and others concerned totally in the dark about the security position of the ports.
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