USCG imposes conditions of entry on vessels arriving from Djibouti

The USCG announced that it will implement conditions of entry on vessels arriving from the Republic of Djibouti. These conditions intend to protect the US from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient port anti-terrorism measures in place.

The policy will come into force on May 30, 2019.

The notice comes after August 18, 2018, when the USCG found out that ports in the Djibouti Republic failed to keep effective anti-terrorism measures, and also saw the deficiencies in the Republic of Djibouti’s designated authority’s oversight, access control, security monitoring, security training programs, and security plans drills and exercises.

Therefore, the Coast Guard sent recommendations to the Republic of Djibouti aiming to improve its anti-terrorism measures, and a timeframe of 90 frames to respond.

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Consequently, from May 30, 2019, the conditions concerning vessels entering, found in the table below, will be imposed to those that come from the Republic of Djibouti, except the Doraleh Container Terminal and the Doraleh Oil Terminal (Horizon), in its last five port calls.

1	Implement measures per the vessel’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2 while in a port in the Republic of Djibouti. 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.”
2	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 Djibouti.
3	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.”
4	Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a port in the Republic of Djibouti.
5	Log all security actions in the vessel’s security records.
6	Report actions taken to the cognizant Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) prior to arrival into U.S. waters.
7	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.