US Coast Guard train Maltese staff in port security

Malta Customs and Armed Forces of Malta officers, police inspectors and Freeport security staff yesterday completed an intensive port security training course conducted by officers of the US Coast Guard.

It will help Malta in its efforts to endorse the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code by July 1 this year which countries that form part of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) hope to implement.

"Thanks to the course given by the US Coast Guard, Malta is on the right track to ratify the ISPS code and is way ahead of other countries in this respect," US ambassador Anthony Gioia said.

The ISPS code is a legal framework through which ships and port facilities can cooperate to detect and deter acts that threaten maritime security. Maritime laws have been amended to step up security and curb international contraband.

The ISPS also enables collection and exchange of security information across countries. This means that, as from July, Customs officers and Freeport staff will need to gather and assess information and maintain communication protocols with other countries.

Mr Gioia defined the training course as the latest example of close Malta-US cooperation to improve maritime and port security.

"The US Coast Guard plays an integral role in maintaining the operations of American ports and waterways, facing a daunting task of protecting 361 ports and more than 95,000 miles of coastline," said Mr Gioia.

He said Malta's strategic location in the central Mediterranean, where shipping lanes brought one-third of the world's cargo traffic through or past Malta, also made it a potential target for the transit of smuggled materials and human trafficking.

The ambassador mentioned a few examples of how US and Maltese organisations have cooperated in recent times.

"The US government has donated a $5 million state-of-the-art patrol boat and, only two weeks ago, our close cooperation with the Armed Forces of Malta resulted in the rescue of 39 illegal immigrants whose boat was sinking in Maltese waters."

The US government has also donated $2 million worth of support for VACIS, a mobile cargo inspection system with gamma ray technology, to scan containers suspected of illicit cargo, thanks to which the Maltese Customs seized smuggled and counterfeit products worth millions of liri.

Mr Gioia announced that Malta would next month host a US-government sponsored border security conference that would attract participants from countries throughout the Mediterranean as well as southeast Asia. The conference would deal with approaches to ensure safer borders.