The race is on.

Bermuda?s ship and port authorities are scrambling to beat the clock as the deadline for new security upgrades rapidly approaches.

Put into place as a direct response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 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.

After the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, there were rumours that the deadline to implement the new regulations would be pushed forward ? however with the legislation already passed in record time, it was decided there was not enough time for ships and ports to put the new security code in place before the original deadline of July 1, 2004.

And even that deadline looks as though it will be close, with ports, ship owners and flag states all emphasising the speed at which the legislation was implemented.

?We are now seeing a suspected link between pirates and terrorists,? Atlantic Marine Limited Partnership company security officer Margaret Benn told .

Pirates are now using far more effective equipment, including more high-speed boats, she said. ?And they are taking over the vessels in a much more commanding way.?

After 9/11 especially, she said, the vulnerability of ships was called into question. The result was the ISPS code, which sets stricter international standards for shipboard/port facility security.

The final version was ratified in December, 2002, and the deadline to have all the security upgrades in place is July 1.

The code sets security levels for a ship or port of 1, 2 or 3, with 1 being considered ?normal? and 3 the highest threat ? similar to the colour coding security warning system implemented in the United States after 9/11.

Ship security officers (SSO), company security officers (CDO) and port facility security officers (PFSO) must also be established with specific training and responsibilities under the ISPS code.

Each ship or port has a list of security guidelines for how to perform on each level. The result is a triangular arrangement between the ship and its owner, the port the ship is entering, and the flag administration (the country the ship is registered in).

The code looks at protecting the ship and port.

?If you can?t get to the ship, you can?t get on the ship,? Ms Benn said. ?And if you can?t get on the ship, you can?t get into the ship. That?s what we?re trying to do.?

Atlantic Marine, which controls 18 ships on a daily basis and provides management services for another 30, is on target with the security upgrades so far.

?We?re on schedule. We?ve got the plans on board and everyone is working to get familiarised and learn their security duties,? Ms Benn said.

The Department of Marine and Ports controls the ports corner for Bermuda.

Marine and Ports director Barry Coupland described the security upgrades as similar to the changes made in airports after 9/11.

Applications for a new port security officer are now closed and interviews for the position will begin this Thursday, he said. The port facilities security officer Government appoints will coordinate port security in Bermuda?s four ports: Dockyard, Hamilton, St. George?s, and the oil docks.

However, Mr. Coupland said those in charge of each port (Wedco for Dockyard, the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George?s, and Esso for the oil docks) will each appoint its own port facility security officer who will report back to Government.

Each port has different needs, he explained, and the most labour-intensive ones will be those receiving cruise ships filled with hundreds of people.

?It?s all a matter of people watching and people management,? he said.

As for the rest of the port security, there have been a ?myriad? of tasks to complete.

Mr. Coupland said in an ideal world, they would have liked more time to make the changes necessary. ?But 9/11 changed everything for everybody and we have to comply.?

Though Bermuda had its own code for security, the Island will now adhere to international regulations. ?We don?t set the rules anymore.

?No compliance means no ships. And Bermuda without ships is not something we want to see.?

The Bermuda Department of Maritime Administration is the third corner of the triangle. Formerly known as the Shipping Registry, the department is the flag administration for the 120 ships registered in Bermuda.

?I?m very concerned about it (the deadline),? Maritime Administration chief surveyor Duncan Currie said. ?We do have a quality fleet on the register, but there is a huge amount of work involved.

?There is a view internationally that many ports and ships will not comply by the deadline,? he added. ?The ports and ships, they just haven?t been prepared. There?s been a lack of expertise and, to a certain extent, a lack of guidance from governments and other organisations.?

Added to the complications facing Bermuda as a flag state are the nine new ships registered here within the last two months ? including five ?high profile? cruise ships.

?This is a very busy time for us,? Mr. Currie said. Once the companies owning the ships have implemented all the security measures, the flag administration has to come in with trained surveyors and verify the shipboard standards for security meet the code?s regulations.

If so, the flag administration then produces documentation ? the International Ship Security Certificate ? as evidence saying the ship?s flag state verifies the ship is complying with the ISPS code. ?This is a key document that allows ships into ports internationally, having evidence from the flag state that it does comply,? Mr. Currie said.

Besides training surveyors and verifying security on the ships, Maritime Administration also has to enact merchant shipping regulations allowing action to be taken against any vessel/company that does not comply.

?It is the duty of all flag states to provide national regulations which give effect to international regulations,? he said.

?There is a huge workload, this is a very hardworking department,? Mr. Currie said. ?We do have a quality fleet on the register but there is a huge amount of work involved.

?It?s going to be a very close call. July 1 is only a few months away. We do have good ships and very responsible owners. But it?s going to be very tight.?