Panama – Ship Security Alert System

C25037 | 08 July 2025

Notice to: Ship Owners / Managers / Operators / Surveyors / Auditors : 

The Panama Maritime Authority has revised Marine Circular MMC-133 – Ship Security Alert System. The Circular supersedes MMC-371.

The Circular reminds that all Panama-flagged vessels must configure the main recipient on their SSAS-designated terminal as: threat@amp.gob.pa.

As of June 30, 2025, the annual SSAS TEST is to be submitted through a new website at https://ssas-tests-pan.polestar-production.com/sign-in.

All historical vessel, CSO, and test data will be fully migrated and available on the new platform without any loss of information. Users will retain their current username and will receive an email with a new password to log in to the new platform. If any user does not receive this email, they can reset their password by using their current username and clicking the “Forgot Password” button on the new login page.

SSAS Equipment Configuration:

The SSAS TEST messages must include the following information:

Name of vessel: in upper case and exactly as written in the Navigation Documents.

IMO number: 7 digits and may be preceded by the word “IMO”. It must not include zeroes before the number or spaces between numbers.

Maritime Mobile Service Identity: 9 digits, without spaces, hyphens or other characters.

Call Sign: between 4 and 7 digits and exactly as written in the ship’s navigation registration certificate, without spaces, hyphens or other characters, other than letters and numbers.

Date and time: in one of the following formats:

• DD-MM-YYYY
• MM-DD-YYYY or
• YYYY-MM-DD

The dividers can be slashes, points or dashes.

The time: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in one of the following formats:

• HH: MM, or
• HH: MM: SS

Coordinates of the vessel’s position at the time of the SSAS test:

• degrees, minutes and seconds,
• degrees and decimals of minutes, or
• decimals of degrees.

Dividers between degrees, minutes and seconds can be:

• The symbols for degrees, minutes and seconds (° ‘ “)
• Two points (:)
• Spaces.

Additionally, the hemisphere is to be included in upper case letters: “N” or “S” for latitude, “E” or “W” for longitude.

The hemisphere can be placed before or after the position coordinates. No spaces or dashes should be left between the coordinates and the hemisphere.

Speed: The heading and speed of the vessel at the time of the TEST shall be detailed as follows:

The heading of the vessel is to be expressed in degrees from 0 to 359 and be preceded by the words “Heading”, “HDG”, “Course” or “COG” in uppercase, lowercase or a combination of both.

The speed of the ship is to be expressed in knots and preceded by the words “Speed”, “SOG” or “Spd” and followed by the term “knots”, “knts”, “kn” or ” kt ” in uppercase, lowercase or a combination of both.

TEST messages must include the word “TEST “ at least once. Where the received message does not contain the word “TEST”, the Panama Maritime Authority will request confirmation from the CSO about the status of the ship and the crew to rule out any case of false alarm.

Annual SSAS Test Confirmation:

Only one annual SSAS TEST is mandatory and must be scheduled through: https://ssas-tests-pan.polestar-production.com/sign-in, in a period no longer than twelve (12) calendar months and can be scheduled 24 hours in advance. Any test scheduled after the SSAS message has been received will not be valid.

Once the SSAS test has been carried out, the CSO receives a flag confirmation by email indicating that the SSAS test has been successful, and the CSO is to send the flag confirmation on board the vessel since it will be subject to verification during the ISPS initial, intermediate or renewal verification.

FAILED TEST: If the test does not comply with the configuration described above, it will be considered a failed test and must be reprogrammed through the SSAS platform.

PENDING TEST: If the SSAS TEST cannot be carried out, this must be notified by email to info@panama-ssas.com 24 hours in advance, stating the reasons and the new date of programming through the SSAS platform.

Vessel’s change of name

When a vessel changes name, it is necessary to request an updated CSO declaration with the new vessel name through the following website: http://certificates.amp.gob.pa/certificates.

When the vessel name is shown in the SSAS platform, the company operator must schedule a new SSAS TEST through the platform, due to the change of name.

SSAS Malfunction Authorization

Where the SSAS equipment is not operating correctly, the operator company may request a SSAS malfunctioning authorization through the E-Segumar platform: http://certificates.amp.gob.pa/certificates and the case will be evaluated and processed by the Maritime Ships Security Department main office or by any international Segumar offices that the client decides to approach.

When the vessel has requested an SSAS malfunction authorization, a new SSAS TEST must be scheduled to verify that the SSAS is working properly, and the Master is to send the technical report to isps@amp.gob.pa.

High Risk (HRA) Transits:

The PMA recommends that all Panama Flag vessels, before entry into a High Risk Area (HRA), the crew should be fully briefed on the preparations, and a piracy drill should be conducted as well.

The security drill should be reviewed, and all personnel briefed on their duties, including familiarization with the alarm used to identify a piracy attack.

These drills must be scheduled through the SSAS platform https://ssas-tests-pan.polestar-production.com/sign-in, indicating that it is a “Piracy Drill” or “SSAS Test”, vessels will be requested to verify that the SSAS equipment has been correctly set up and is working properly.

Non-compliance

In cases of noncompliance, the following sanctions may be imposed:

• If the SSAS annual test is not carried out successfully, the International Ship Security Certificate (ISSC) will not be issued.
• Additional audits of the ISPS Code may be authorized for vessels that demonstrate non-compliance with the provisions of the Circular.

Act now

Ship Owners / Managers / Operators / Surveyors / Auditors should note the contents of Circular MMC-133 and be guided accordingly.