Experts cite need for port security Standardized regulations sought

ROCKPORT – The threat of terrorism – everywhere – underscores a need for a control system for international shipping similar to that used for air travel, three experts told a conference Tuesday.

“Terrorist attacks have become a major concern all over the world, not just with air traffic, but marine traffic as well,” said one of the three experts, a professor from a Turkish university.

They were swapping information at an international conference at the Samoset Resort hosted by Maine Maritime Academy of Castine. Called the General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities, the three-day conference has drawn more than 100 experts from 34 maritime colleges around the world.

“Compared to air traffic control, there is no standard system of regulation,” said B. Sitki Ustaoglu of the Istanbul Technical University’s maritime faculty in Tuzla, Turkey. “There is no standardization in terminology or function, and this is a major problem. We need to find a way to form a global safety network.”

Ustaoglu and two colleagues offered an alternative already in place: It’s known as vessel traffic services, or VTS, and has been used in some regions since the 1950s. Not until the past decade has VTS been adopted globally.

“Vessel traffic services [is] the assortment of personnel, procedures, equipment and regulations assembled for the purpose of traffic management in a given body of water,” said one of the presenters, Ender Asyali, another Turkish maritime specialist.

“A VTS includes some means of area surveillance, traffic separation, vessel movement reporting, a traffic center and enforcement capability. These functions are not dissimilar to the advanced air traffic control and management systems,” Asyali told the conference.

They noted that VTS can also be an important tool for the protection of the environment. Still, the system has no determined set of standards similar to air traffic control.

Ustaoglu said that while air traffic control was formulated as part of the relatively recent development of air transportation, rules governing maritime shipping have evolved haphazardly.

“Maritime transportation is always under the influence of long historical and traditional [backgrounds], and implementation of changes, no matter how good they are, takes considerable time,” he said.

Despite that daunting obstacle, Ustaoglu recommended “a more global network rather than regional networks. All the world’s oceans have connections with each other.”