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.