Ports regulator Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has initiated the process of upgrading International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code features at major ship handling ports here following an Intelligence Bureau (IB) advisory, a top GMB official said.

Presently, around 11 GMB-administered ship handling ports, including private ones like Mundra, Pipavav, Hazira and Dahej, comply with ISPS Code and International Safety Management Code guidelines for vessels, which have been effect ever since the 9/11 terror attack in US.

"ISPS Code is already implemented in 11 ports from where major shipping is handled in Gujarat. We are in the process of upgrading code features based on the feedback from IB," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The code is currently equipped to handle security aspects between ships and the shore that helps in verification of people going from the shore to vessel and vice versa," he said. "We have a proposal to put radioactive detection devices at the ports, have night vision cameras, place entry and exit points under electronic surveillance through biometric identification cards," he said.

As part of this project, GMB is also in the process of setting up an Integrated Port Management System (IPMS) that will incorporate all the security systems at the ports, besides data on ships, the officer said. "We are in the process of shortlisting vendors for IPMS and shall soon be going in for the tendering process," the official said.

GMB ports handled traffic of 231 million tonnes in 2010-11, amounting to 26 per cent of all cargo handled nationally. The cargo throughput at GMB ports was up by over 12 per cent at 231 MT in 2010-11 in comparison to 205.51 MT in 2009-10.