Bermuda?s ports, ships and shipping companies have confirmed that they met yesterday?s deadline for new international ship security codes, the toughest the world has seen since the Second World War.

The new International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) Code was rushed through legislative channels by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the maritime arm of the United Nations, as a direct response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

There was a global mad scramble to implement the regulations by the July 1 deadline and Bermuda is looking good in comparison. Figures to the IMO from member governments yesterday indicated that only some 56 percent of International Ship Security Certifications (ISSC) were issued, though 86 percent of ships and 69 percent of port facilities globally had their security plans approved by July 1 and the figures were rising rapidly.

Ships have generally been ahead of flag states and ports world-wide, and the two Bermuda-based shipping companies ? Atlantic Marine and Gypsum Transportation ? were ready days ahead of the deadline.

For Bermuda?s ports and the ships for which Bermuda is a flag state, it came down to the wire. Maritime Administration chief surveyor Duncan Currie said the last two of the 114 ships registered in Bermuda were inspected on Wednesday, the day before the deadline, and Marine and Ports director Barry Coupland said the last inspections of Bermuda?s ports were also completed that day.

Now comes the ironing out of the kinks. No one in the shipping industry is certain how the new procedures will work now that they are being put into practice, and it is expected that minor changes may need to be made here and there.

Mr. Coupland likened it to the gradual development of security regulations in airports since 9/11. ?The plans are all subject to continuing upgrade.?

Marine and Ports will now go through drills and exercises in conjunction with the UK Government to practice what should be happening at the different security levels, he said. ?I am happy to say we made it.?

Mr. Currie was similarly relieved. ?There is still some fine-tuning to be done,? he agreed, ?but we are in good shape.

?No one really knows how the regulations are going to operate in practice.?

IMO Secretary General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos stated on the IMO website that it will take some time to clearly establish what the actual situation is, and then if necessary take appropriate action. ?It is our intention to monitor developments closely during the initial period of implementation so that any appropriate action, including technical assistance for those governments that need and request it, can be taken.?

He acknowledged that there had been administrative bottlenecks in the run-up to the entry deadline and that, without them, the reported 56 percent of ISSC issued by yesterday would have been higher.

?But,? he added, ?important though certification undoubtedly is, what really counts is the work that has been done on the ground: security officers appointed on ships, in companies and port facilities, training undertaken, security plans drawn up, awareness raised, and vigilance heightened.?

A US Coast Guard spokesperson yesterday said three of the 250 ships expected to reach the US yesterday would be turned away because they had not met the regulations.