UNDERCOVER Gurkha and Special Boat Squadron veterans are being used by a Southampton-based cruise company in a bid to ward off terrorist attacks, it is claimed.
The former servicemen are already on board Cunard's QE2 and dozens of other liners.
P&O, whose ships include the city's prestigious Oriana, have also deployed them.
The special security officers wear crew uniform and are on duty 24 hours a day.
Shipping line bosses introduced the measures following scares over the past two years.
Two suicide bombers exploded a small dinghy against the US warship Cole off Yemen in October 2000, killing 19 people. And a French oil tanker was set alight in a suspected terrorist attack off Yemen two weeks ago.
A government security committee looked at the safety of Britain's ships following the September 11 tragedy.
The Passenger Ship Association then launched an international operation to step up security. It includes:
All passengers and crew being security vetted.
Plastic security cards being carried by everyone on board.
Visitors being banned from boarding ships without prior approval
X-ray machines and metal detectors being used to vet everyone who gets on board.
State-of-the-art radar being introduced that can detect a small dinghy 20 miles away.
A spokesman for Cunard said they had used ex-Gurkhas on board ships for several years but would not comment on latest security arrangements.
A spokeswoman for P&O also refused to comment on security.
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