The idea that the IMO would know what to do when it came to regulating the shoreside was never on, right? Wrong to both.
Although it has been uneven progress, and the lesser minnows of the port industry have been slow to resource and carry out their compliance duties, there is in fact quite a lot of satisfaction within the UN Specialized Agency that this notoriously patchy industry has come into line so quickly.
The reason for this alacrity is probably to do with the extra competitive pressures which are on modern ports these days.
Gone are the times when ports could take the take it or leave approach which came from sitting on the best locations for the markets served. Gone too are the days when the turnover of containers and tonnage was measured and analysed to no real purpose – who wants to report a decline in throughput in the expanding intermodal marketplace of today? Perhaps the most effective spur to the efforts of ports was the suggestions made at the end of 2003 that ships which had visited non-compliant ports might be delayed upon their arrival at US Ports.
There was a rumour going around that compliance for instance in the Arabian Gulf was poor. In fact, sources in Dubai report that most of the ports in the region were compliant before the deadline and certificates were available for all Iranian Ports, the ports of the UAE, of Kuwait and of Umm Quasr in Iraq. The Islamic P&I Club, based in Tehran, refers to a circular issued by the port and shipping organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran which states that all vessels intending to enter Iranian waters from 1st July should fully comply with provisions of Chapter XI- 2 of SOLAS and ISPS Code and should maintain it until leaving Iranian jurisdiction. This circular does not mention sanctions but it may be assumed that either entry will be denied or ships may be detained until the relevant certificates are obtained. Not a bad result at all , from a standing start just over a year ago.
