"The initial stage of the process could take time to complete, during which time no one in the vicinity of the ship has any knowledge of a potential terrorist act underway," said the report.
Another factor delaying the alert is that once an alert has been verified, the flag state then must decide which security body is notified and this varies between countries.
"Perhaps the greatest concern is the fact that few, if any, of the flag states have systems in place that facilitate the requirement to immediately notify the nearby coastal state upon receipt of a ship security alert," said the report.
"For ships positioned near highly populated areas, critical infrastructures or alongside large passenger ships, expediency is of the utmost importance if there is to be any hope of saving lives."
The report said some in the maritime industry consider SSAS "almost useless" as it does not provide detailed information of the threat faced by a ship, hindering the security response.
Since the introduction of the SSAS there have been no cases of a ship using the alert during a terrorist attack, but ships have used the system when attacked by pirates. Ships under attack often contact nearby navy and maritime authorities directly.
UNRELIABLE
Only one ship has used the SSAS as its only alert, when attacked by pirates. The Danish ship Danica White was boarded by pirates off the Somali coast in 2007, surprising crew and giving the captain only enough time to press the SSAS button.
The report said the captain assumed his alert had been sent to the Danish navy's headquarters in Denmark, but there was no record of the alert being received by the Danish navy, yet tests of the system later revealed no faults.
The Danica White attack showed that "the security alert systems are not reliable enough to be considered as a sole means for acquiring assistance", said the report.
The report said the European Union and Asia were well placed to implement a more coordinated response to SSAS, citing Asia's cooperation against piracy since 2004, and that there was a degree of cooperation between Canada and the United States.
But many regional arrangements were of "an ad hoc nature and involve so many parties that the goal of achieving a rapid response to prevent acts of terrorism may not be achievable".
