Ship Security Alert System

[1][2][3][4] In case of a security incident, that may include attempted or actual piracy, terrorism,[5] armed robbery and similar attacks, the ship's SSAS can be activated by the Master and responsible members of the crew to continuously send silent alerts to the flag State, as well as predefined recipients that include the ship's owner (company).

[8] Technically, the SSAS consists of a GPS receiver linked to a transmitter, a power supply, software and activation buttons.

[9] There must be at least two independent activation points on the ship, one on the navigation bridge and the other(s) in places immediately accessible by the crew.

The locations of the SSAS activation points and relevant procedure for use must be detailed in the ship's security plan (also required by the ISPS Code).

Equally, an overt radio/phone acknowledgment of the alert is also not made in case it poses a threat to crew if they have been captured.