Bridging the gap

All ships above 500 gross tonnes now have to comply with new safety measures – the ISPS Code – spearheaded by the International Maritime Organisation.

One organisation whose vessels have been undergoing work to comply is Mercy Ships, a charity that operates a growing fleet of hospital ships in developing nations.

It approached Codelocks UK Ltd, specialists in stand-alone coded access control for help.

Said MD of Codelocks, Grant Macdonald: “We are well aware of this new legislation and have been working with a number of shipping companies recently to help them meet the (July 1) deadline for compliance.” Shipping has now become a big market for the company.

The Mercy Ships organisation helps construct hospitals, clinics, schools and training facilities, homes and churches, working with local communities.The ships use multi national crew and staff with land based teams to supplement the work.

The organisation is rolling out the new locks from Codelocks on its flagship, the Anastasis, a former cruise liner, and has already installed them on the Caribbean Mercy. The new locks will be used on every door between the outside deck and accommodation space, every door to the bridge and every door to the engine room.

Installers involved in access control on shipping need to take in special considerations. Doors which must be locked also have to be used as emergency escape routes and passengers and crew have to be able to exit at all times.

“It’s a challenging exercise, but I am sure other ship owners will have the same issues,” said Michel Zandbergen, Engineering Superintendent for Mercy Ships. “As the Anastasis is 50 years old, there are a lot of doors and we have to make sure we safeguard the crew at all times. The main benefits of using these locks are the flexibility and versatility they will give us without having to have duplicate keys cut.”

The stainless steel finish and all-mechanical construction with no electrics made them ideal for shipping applications where salt corrosion is a problem, he said. “The full size lever handle on the 525 model makes it easier to use on primary doors as the main entry and exit lock. This is also preferable to a knob operated push button lock which could be awkward in an emergency when hands and surfaces may be greasy and slippery.”

An anti-panic mortice lock feature means that in the event of fire or other emergency, the crew can escape quickly and not be trapped.

Fire and emergency crews will hold a master key to access all areas with the same key, by overriding the code and the deadbolt.

Although the implications of non-compliance with the new legislation are not completely known, it is assumed that ships can be refused entry to ports or can be subject to intensive inspection, especially in Europe and the US.

The legislation is part of the IMO initiative to improve security in all areas of commercial and passenger shipping. The International Ship and Port Facilities Security Code is a new chapter of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974.