USCG has announced conditions of entry which will be imposed on vessels arriving in the United States (U.S.) from the Federated States of Micronesia from 05 September 2017. These conditions of entry are intended to protect the U.S. from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient port anti-terrorism measures in place.
The USCG has found that the following countries currently do not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures and are therefore subject to conditions of entry: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Gambia, GuineaBissau, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, TimorLeste, Venezuela, and Yemen.
According to USCG, each vessel vising US ports should comply with the following requirements:
- Implement measures per the vessel’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2 while in a port in the Federated States of Micronesia. As defined in the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) and incorporated herein, “Security Level 2” refers to the “level for which appropriate additional protective security measures shall be maintained for a period of time as a result of heightened risk of a security incident.”
- Ensure that each access point to the vessel is guarded and that guards have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while the vessel is in ports in the Federated States of Micronesia.
- Guards may be provided by the vessel’s crew; however, additional crewmembers should be placed on the vessel if necessary to ensure that limits on maximum hours of work are not exceeded and/or minimum hours of rest are met, or provided by outside security forces approved by the vessel’s Master and Company Security Officer. As defined in the ISPS Code and incorporated herein, “Company Security Officer” refers to the “person designated by the Company for ensuring that a ship security assessment is carried out; that a ship security plan is developed, submitted for approval, and thereafter implemented and maintained and for liaison with port facility security officers and the ship security officer.”
- Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a port in the Federated States of
Micronesia. - Log all security actions in the vessel’s security records
- Report actions taken to the cognizant Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) prior to
arrival in U.S. waters.
In addition, based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or examination, the vessel may be required to ensure that each access point to the vessel is guarded by armed, private security guards and that they have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while in U.S. ports. The number and position of the guards has to be acceptable to the cognizant COTP prior to the vessel’s arrival.
