PROPOSING A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR SECURITY PERFORMANCE OF PORT FACILITIES

Port facilities have crucial importance for continuity of national and international trade while considering over 80 % of global trade are carried by sea. However, increase in circulation of goods at ports results in shortages in inspection and security problems. These security concerns reached its top level with the 9/11 terrorist attack. After this event, an urgent need for development in security strategies has taken the uppermost place in the relevant agenda. Considering this prominence, International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code issued to detect security threats. While ISPS Code comprises many security requirements, it does not present any quantitative method for measuring the effectiveness of these requirements and conformity of port and ships with the ISPS Code. This study aims to propose an efficient and applicable method that combines AHP and fuzzy logic to minimize subjectiveness of security assessment conducted by Recognised Security Organisation (RSO). The proposed model has been tested in a port facility with a Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO) and 30 security officers by using two questionnaries that developed for this purpose. The results show that this methodology is easy to use and it can be used as a helpful tool for RSOs and PFSOs in assessing port security activities with a crisp value.