4.1 SOLAS Contracting Governments should issue
appropriate identification documents, which should include a photograph
of the holder, where appropriate, to Government officials entitled
to board ships or enter port facilities when performing their official
duties and to establish procedures whereby the authenticity of such
documents might be verified. Government officials should present their
identification documents when requested to do so at access control
points to port facilities and ships and if challenged when on board.
4.2 SOLAS Contracting Governments should ensure
that the method of verifying the authenticity of identification documents
carried by public authorities and emergency response services is available
to ships directly through information provided by the port State or
the coastal State.
4.3 The form, format and language of identity
documents, of public authorities, and of emergency response services
and of pilots are regulated by national or local legislations and
there is no international standard to this end. In some cases, such
identity documents do not bear the name of the individual but simply
an identification number which may be alphanumeric or may not include
the name of the individual but simply a photograph of the holder.
If the language of the identity documents is not in English, French
or Spanish these should have a translation, in one of the three, preferably
English, included in the same document of identity.
4.4 Public authorities, emergency response services
and pilots whether in uniform or not, should present an identity document
when seeking to board a ship. Section
A/17.2.13 of the ISPS Code requires the port facility security
officer (PFSO) to assist ship security officer (SSOs) in confirming
the identity of those seeking to board the ship when requested and
the port facility plan (PFSP) should, in accordance with paragraph B/16.8.13 of the ISPS Code,
establish for all security levels, the procedures for assisting SSOs
in confirming the identity of those seeking to board the ship. When
presenting identity documents the person concerned should be ready
to provide contact details which allow the validity of the identification
document to be verified, in addition to the information provided to
the ship, in accordance with the paragraph 4.2 above.
4.5 Emergency response services need to show only
the identity document of the person-in-charge of the team responding
to the incident, where practicable. The person-in-charge should be
able to inform the ship the number of emergency response personnel
who are boarding.
4.6 The issue of visitor identification documents
by the ship to public authorities, emergency response services and
pilots who have provided, when seeking to board the ship, verifiable
identity may not be warranted and may exhibit, in lieu of visitor
identification documents issued by the ship, their official identification
documents. If the aforesaid do not display visitor identification
documents issued by the ship, this fact should not be construed as
a failure of the ship to implement or to maintain appropriate security
measures. Public authorities, emergency response services and pilots
should not be required to surrender their official identification
documents when boarding a ship.