Technical Notices

Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) has revised merchant marine circular MMC-133, providing updated instructions and procedure on use of Ship Security Alert System (SSAS).

Indicative points of the circular are as follows:

1. From 1st January 2018, annual SSAS test is to be done through the use of an electronic platform for supply and operation of the Ship Identification and Monitoring System, provided by PMA.
2. CSO have to request access to platform and their access credentials by email to info@panama-ssas.com from 30th November 2017.
3. One annual SSAS TEST is mandatory. In case of vessels that perform more than one test and require a flag confirmation they should not schedule it through the platform, in those cases they have to use the SSAS TEST message information and send an email directly to threat@amp.gob.pa using ASCII, UTF-8 or ANSI encodings.
4. In cases where the SSAS TEST cannot be carried out; same must be notified by email to info@panama-ssas.com 24 hours in advance, the reasons and the new date of programming through the platform.
5. In cases where the SSAS TEST cannot be performed due to technical problems of the equipment, it should be communicated to the email: info@panama-ssas.com
6. Non compliance with above regulations may result in:
   • Invalidation of the International Ship Security Certificate (ISSC).
   • Additional audits of the ISPS Code
7. Security drill is to be conducted once in every three months and must test the proficiency of vessel personnel in assigned security duties at all maritime security levels including the effective implementation of the Ship Security Plan (SSP).
8. Security exercise with shore must be carried out at least once each calendar year with no more than 18 months between exercises
9. Records of confirmation message of the annual SSAS test, drills and exercises are to be retained onboard in paper or electronic format; for period of time as specified in Ship Security Plan (SSP) or as per internal procedure of the company or for a time equivalent to duration of the international Ship Security Certificate (5 years).
10. A copy of radio technician’s report demonstrating compliance with relevant requirements of SOLAS 74, Ch. XI-2 will be verified by Recognized Security Organization (RSO) at next scheduled ISPS audit.
11. At subsequent ISPS verification, the RSO will examine the records of activities on the SSAS equipment, as specified in the ISPS Code A/10.1.10, witness a complete security alert test and verifying the operational requirements and in the case of a SSAS

Ship owners/operators and masters are advised to be guided by above and are requested to verify that the SSAS equipment have been correctly set-up and is working properly.