Some are cutting it close, but it looks as though Bermuda's shipping industry will be ready to meet new security regulations on July 1.

Put into place as a direct response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the new International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code was rushed through legislative channels by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the maritime arm of the United Nations.

Ship owners, flag states and ports were given until July 1, 2004 to implement the new security regulations, some of the toughest seen since the Second World War.

Despite a world-wide scramble from the shipping industry, it is already appearing as though many will not make it.

"It is likely that the vast majority of the world is not going to comply by July 1," Marine and Ports director Barry Coupland said on Thursday.

Ships are generally ahead of ports and flag states. The two companies based in Bermuda that own ships elsewhere, Atlantic Marine Limited Partnership and Gypsum Transportation Limited, are ahead of the game and have already met the deadline.

However it is coming down to the wire for Marine and Ports, with a Transport Security Division of the Department for Trade officer arriving on the Island next week to complete inspections in Bermuda's four ports.

Marine and Ports has received approval from the British Government for their port facility security plans under the ISPS code, Mr. Coupland said. All that remains is to implement them within the timeline allotted.

"If the results are in proportion to the input, we're looking pretty good," Mr. Coupland said. "Assuming the inspector finds no fault with the implementation procedures."

Each of the four ports ? Dockyard, Hamilton, St. George's and the oil docks ? hire their own port security officer and have their own port-specific security plan, he said. Government has also hired a port security officer to oversee and co-ordinate the other four: former Harbour Radio chief radio officer Scott Simmons.

As Harbour Radio is central to the ISPS code, overseeing the arrival and departure of every single ship in Bermuda, he said that was the logical progression. Government is now advertising for the post of a chief radio officer, though Mr. Coupland said it was hoped someone will be hired from within Harbour Radio.

Maritime Administration chief surveyor Duncan Currie admitted he is looking forward to the deadline: "The last four months have been extremely busy", he said

Bermuda is the flag state for 114 ships, he said, and only six are left to be inspected. "We expect to have it done by July 1."

If they fail, the vessel would be in breach of her own merchant shipping regulations, he said. "We'd detain her before anyone else could," he added, until the vessel could comply with the ISPS code. "But it's not going to happen."

Maritime Administration is also responsible for enacting merchant shipping legislation giving effect to the international regulations in Bermuda, he said. That legislation has been ready since June 18 and was to be Gazetted yesterday.

The entire process has been more detailed than was expected, he said. "But that's the nature of the shipping business. Things are difficult to introduce, especially on tight schedules.

"But, in comparison, we're looking good."