The US Coast Guard will impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving from certain ports in Iraq. Conditions of entry aim to protect the US from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient anti-terrorism port measures in place.
On August 21, 2017, USCG found that Iraq failed to maintain effective anti-terrorism measures in its ports and that its authority’s oversight, access control, security monitoring, security training programs, and security plans drills and exercises are deficient.
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On October 14, 2017, Iraq was notified of this determination, provided recommendations for improving antiterrorism measures, and given 90 days to respond.
In January 2018, USCG re-visited Iraq to review its progress on correcting the security deficiencies. The US Coast Guard determined that Iraq failed to maintain effective anti-terrorism measures with the exeptions of three port facilities: The Al-Basrah Oil Terminal, the Khor Al Amaya Oil Terminal and Al Maqal Terminal 14 (also known as the North America Western Asia Holdings Facility).
As a result, beginning October 26, 2018, the following conditions of entry will apply to any vessel that visited a port in Iraq in its last five port calls:
- Implement measures per the vessel’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2 while in a port in the Republic of Iraq. As defined in the 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 the guards have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while the vessel is in ports in the Republic of Iraq.
- 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 Republic of Iraq.
- 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 into 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.
The conditions of entry will not apply to the ports: Al-Basrah Oil Terminal, Khor Al Amaya Oil Terminal, Al Maqal Terminal 14.
The following countries do not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures in their ports and are also subject to conditions of entry:
- Cambodia;
- Cameroon;
- Comoros;
- Côte d’Ivoire;
- Equatorial Guinea;
- Gambia;
- Guinea-Bissau;
- Iran;
- Liberia;
- Libya;
- Madagascar;
- Micronesia;
- Nauru;
- Nigeria;
- Sao Tome and Principe;
- Syria;
- Timor-Leste;
- Yemen.
