977 - 06/14 - USCG conditions of entry for vessels arriving to the US from Nigeria - USA

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has released a Port Security Alert revising their list of countries which do not comply with anti-terrorism measures.The Port Security Alert focuses on Nigeria but also includes a list of all other countries to which these rules apply.From the 26^th June 2014, vessels calling to the US, having visited one of the affected ports must comply with additional security measures set out by the USCG:“1. Implement measures per the ship’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2; 2. 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. Guards may be:

provided by the ship’s crew, however, 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.

3. Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security; 4. Log all security actions in the ship’s security records; and 5. Report actions taken to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port prior to arrival in the U.S. Vessels that visited the countries listed (with exceptions noted) on or after the effective date their last five port calls will be boarded or examined by the Coast Guard to ensure the vessel took the required actions. Failure to properly implement the actions listed may result in delay or denial of entry into the United States. Based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or examination, the vessels that visited the countries listed on or after the effective date 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 U.S. ports. The number and location of the guards must be acceptable to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port. For those vessels that have demonstrated good security compliance and can document that they took the measures called for, the armed security guard requirement will normally be waived.”

Source of information

United States Coast Guardwww.uscg.mil UK P&I Club Loss Prevention Deptlossprevention.ukclub@thomasmiller.com