June 2, 2008

The Caribbean Shipping Association has announced a new initiative to assist ports of the Caribbean to beef up and maintain effective port security systems.

The program will be available to all Caribbean ports but is designed to assist the smaller ports of the region. The CSA plan is to develop the new CSA initiative will involve the establishment of a permanent Security Assessment Council that will maintain dialogue with Caribbean ports, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.

CSA President Fernando Rivera announced the new initiative at the opening of the association’s 7th Annual Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference in St. Maarten.

“With the establishment of this new body within the CSA, we ensure that port security issues are kept on the regional agenda and that (Caribbean) port and terminal operators have an independent, unbiased organization within which to discuss their security needs,” Rivera said.

The new CSA body also will become a reliable source of information that suppliers of security hardware and software may use to design systems specific to the region.