Effective 6 July, 2015
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has recently announced that, effective 6 July 2015 it will impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving in the United States (US) from any port in the Republic of the Gambia during their last five (5) port calls.
The following countries are affected by the USCGs imposition of conditions of entry:
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Masters of vessels arriving at a US port whose last five (5) port calls included a port in a listed country (with exceptions noted) should expect that the USCG will board their vessel at sea in order to ensure that the required actions were complied with.
Failure to properly implement the above conditions of entry while in a port in one of the listed countries will most likely result in the vessel being denied entry into the US. Based on the findings of the USCG boarding or examination, the vessels subject to the conditions of entry may be required to ensure that each access point to the ship is guarded by armed security guards and that they have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while in US ports.
The number and location of the guards must be acceptable to the cognizant USCG Captain of the Port. For those vessels that have demonstrated good security compliance and can document that they took the measures called , the armed security guard requirement will normally be waived.
However, vessels that visited Monrovia, Liberia (Firestone Facility and Port of Liberia) during their last five port calls prior to entering the US will not normally be boarded at sea by the USCG unless other targeting factors apply, nor will these vessels be required to provide armed security guards while in ports of the US.
Owners and operators of vessels that are due to arrive in a US port after calling at a port in any of the countries listed above are strongly urged to review the conditions of entry prior to their vessel arriving at a port in one of these countries.
Source: RMI
