Preventing Stowaways
To minimise stowaway problems it is obviously better to prevent people getting on board a ship in the first place. Prevention should ideally take place both in the port and on the ship.
The problem of stowaways is in fact a very simple security problem – it is one of access control. Since July 2004, control of access to the ship has been an integral part of the Ship Security Plan required by the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code. The following paragraphs highlight examples of the sort of measures ship operators might include in Ship Security Plans to implement the key areas of stowaway prevention – access and restricted areas.
Access
At any level of security, access to the ship should be tightly controlled. Initially this means establishing the ways by which access can be gained, for example using mooring ropes and cargo equipment, as well as by accommodation ladders, gangways and ramps.
Approved access routes should be kept to a minimum, if possible this should be limited to the accommodation ladder, which should be permanently manned and only authorised visitors allowed to board. All persons boarding and disembarking should be properly identified by an appropriate means, such as an identity card or boarding pass, including a photograph, which can be verified.
Having established controls on the authorised access routes, the unauthorised routes should be guarded. This can be achieved by closing and locking ship-side doors, removing over-side ladders, fitting guards on mooring ropes or anchor cables and ensuring that the deck and over-side areas are well lit. The deck areas need to be patrolled regularly, the timing of patrols should be staggered and security personnel may need to observe the land and sea approaches to the ship. Closed circuit television cameras could also be used.
Preventing stowaways boarding with the cargo, especially containers, is a particular problem that requires the cooperation of the port and terminal operators and perhaps the charterers. Ships staff can however take some precautions such as checking to make sure container seals are intact and paying special attention to empty, open-top or open-sided containers.
Restricted areas
Although access to the ship is controlled, there is still a possibility that unauthorised persons may get on board, or that authorised persons such as stevedores may try to hide once on board. The second line of defence on the ship is to designate restricted areas to which no one has access except authorised members of the crew.
Examples of restricted areas are the bridge, machinery spaces, crew accommodation, cargo spaces and stores spaces. Store rooms and other spaces should be kept locked, and entrances into the accommodation and engine room may also be kept locked as long as fire and safety regulations are followed. If cargo is not being worked, hatches and cargo space entrances need to be closed, locked and checked before and during closing to make sure that no stowaways have concealed themselves.
Fitting suitable locks, surveillance monitoring equipment and devices that detect intruders automatically can provide protection. Restricted areas should also be patrolled regularly and guarded in times of heightened security.
Rudder trunks
There has been a recent trend of stowaways hiding in rudder trunks on deep-draft vessels, where they are not often found until they present themselves in search of food and water.
Some authorities have recommended that owners install metal gratings above the openings to their rudder compartments in addition to carrying out the usual thorough search before departing.
Stowaway search
As a final precaution, and to supplement the measures taken under the Ship Security Plan, a thorough and systematic stowaway search should be carried out before the ship sails.