Coast Guard Imposes Conditions of Entry on Vessels Arriving from Madagascar
November 23, 2009The Coast Guard has annouced that it will impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving in the United States from Madagascar, with the exception of vessels arriving from the port of Toamasina (also known as Tamatave). The policy will become effective December 4, 2009.
Section 70110 of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-295, Nov. 25, 2002) provides that the Secretary of Homeland Security may impose conditions of entry on vessels requesting entry into the United States arriving from ports that are not maintaining effective antiterrorism measures. The Coast Guard has been delegated the authority by the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this section. The Coast Guard has determined that ports in Madagascar are not maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures. Accordingly, effective December 4, 2009, the Coast Guard will impose the following conditions of entry on vessels that visited ports in Madagascar during their last five port calls. Vessels must:
- Implement measures per the ship’s security plan equivalent to Security level 2 while in a port in Madagascar;
- Ensure that each access point to the ship 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 Madagascar. Guards may be provided by the ship’s crew, but additional crewmembers should be placed on the ship 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 ship’s master and Company Security Officer;
- Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a port in Madagascar;
- Log all security actions in the ship’s log;
- Report actions taken to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the port prior to arrival in U.S. waters; and
- Ensure that each access point to the ship 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 Coast Guard Captain of the Port prior to the vessel’s arrival.
For more details, see the notice published in the Federal Register.
If you have questions about the Coast Guard’s notice, contact: Mr. Michael Brown, International Port Security Evaluation Division, Coast Guard; Phone: (202) 372-1081. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations; Phone: (202) 366-9826.
