Asian shippers warned not to compromise on security
Asian shippers warned not to compromise on security
Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia urged Asian shipping lines Monday not to compromise on security measures amid growing terrorist threats and said it would cooperate with the United States on container security.
"Shipping lines are now being compelled to take a relook at the way cargoes are loaded or what cargoes are carried, where, why and how," said Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik, opening a two-day Asia Maritime and Logistics Conference here.
"There is also the need to review documents that accompany the cargo. The search for greater maritime safety and security demands a firm hand and quick decisions and there can be no compromise on this," Ling said.
He told reporters later that Malaysia was negotiating for U.S. customs agents to check U.S.-bound consignments for terrorist material at its ports under the U.S. Container Security Initiative (CSI).
"We are still having talks but there is tremendous cooperation from the Malaysian authorities because we see it as something we ought to do to allow our friends to know that ours is a safe port. There is nothing to hide," he said.
Ling said U.S. officials would only conduct "very selective risk assessment" and the move would not slow down trade.
"We have the latest scanning equipment to scan boxes in almost no time, and therefore, it will not be an impediment to trade. That is the prerequisite, it should not slow down trade."
The southern Port of Tanjung Pelepas, one of Malaysia's main ports, had also approached U.S. authorities to participate in the initiative.
The U.S. customs acting Southeast Asian attache Peter Darvas, based in SIngapore, said high-level meetings would be held over the next two months to finalise details.
In Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan have joined the CSI -- an anti-terrorism plan involving pre-screening and identifying high-risk containers carrying US-bound cargo -- along with the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, he told AFP.
Darvas later told the conference that some U.S. congressmen have called for a check on all six million cargo containers entering U.S. seaports each year but this would be "wasteful, make no sense" and disrupt trade.
He urged the region to cooperate in providing timely and accurate information on the cargoes.
"Combating terrorism is the number one priority of U.S. custom service and will be our number one priority in the foreseeable future because the terrorist threat is real and ongoing," he added.
Shippers earlier told the conference that operating costs had risen due to higher war-risk insurance premiums following the Oct. 6 explosion aboard a French supertanker off the Yemeni coast and a looming U.S.-Iraq war.
Malaysian International Shipping Corp. chief executive Mohamad Ali Yasin said all shipping firms have been hit by a doubling of cargo insurance premiums to 0.04 percent while bunker prices have also soared.
"It's a very volatile period that we are in," said F. Jacobs, president and chief executive of shipping giant APL-NOL, adding that there was a need now for firms to "reevaluate safety standards."
Ling told reporters a U.S.-Iraq war would be devastating for the industry, with insurance costs surging and additional costs for shippers having to detour around the Middle East.
"We don't want to be alarmist about this and we still hope that good sense will prevail," he said.
On the Yemen incident and the terror bomb blast in Indonesia's Bali island late Saturday, Ling said the Malaysian government had already put in place tight security measures.