Gard Club informs that while some emergency or essential functions are being carried out without interruption, there have been cases of outage or delay of some ancillary activities and services that affect the maritime shipping community.
Specifically, the processes regarding application and confirmation of Certificates of Financial Responsibility (COFRs), that are needed for ships entering US waters under regulations issued pursuant to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, are now being affected.
In fact, the USCG National Pollution Funds Center has a current notice regarding the situation, and vessel owners and operators should be aware that:
Operators should consult with their COFR issuers and/or Qualified Individual’s for a detailed guidance and assistance with any particular port of call issues or general COFR documentary delays, until the partial governmental shutdown ends.
