Circular
Letter
MSC/Circ.1109
FALSE SECURITY ALERTS AND DISTRESS/SECURITY DOUBLE ALERTS
(7 June 2004)
1.
The Maritime Safety Committee, at its seventy-eighth session (12 to 21 May
2004) exchanged views on a proposal relating to the actions which may be taken
in relation to false security alerts and distress/security double alerts .
2.
SOLAS regulation XI-2/6 requires ships to be fitted with a ship security alert
system (SSAS) which, when activated, shall initiate and transmit a
ship-to-shore security alert (security alert) to a competent authority
designated by the Administration, indicating that the security of the ship is
under threat or it has been compromised. The requirement for the carriage of
SSAS, which is a covert system, is additional to the requirement to be provided
with radio communication equipment capable of initiating and transmitting
distress alerts and piracy attack alarms, both of which are overt systems.
3.
Experience with false distress alerts gained since the introduction of GMDSS indicates
that a ship may transmit a false security alert either as a result of technical
failure of the SSAS or due to inadvertent activation of the system. In either
case, since SOLAS regulation XI-2/6.2.3 provides that SSAS, when activated,
shall not raise any alarm on board the ship, shipboard personnel will be
unaware, or unable to establish, whether a security alert is in fact being
transmitted.
4.
The Committee was therefore requested to advise what action should be taken
between the time a security alert is first received ashore and the time that
the competent authorities initiate action to address the security alert,
bearing in mind that there is a need to determine whether the security alert
received ashore is a genuine or a false one.
5.
The Committee was also requested to consider what action should be taken in the
event of a ship transmitting a distress alert and a security alert
(distress/security double alert), either simultaneously or one after the other.
In view of the fact that a security incident may lead to a distress situation
or a distress situation may be followed by a security incident; and since all
ships are capable of transmitting both alerts, simultaneously or in tandem; the
competent authorities ashore need to assess the situation so as to determine
and prioritise the response to be