Condition of Entry for Vessels Arriving at US Ports from Certain Countries - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Posted - Wednesday, 05 December 2012 |www.hellenicshippingnews.com

The Republic of the Marshall Islands has issued a Marine Advisory No. 53-12 regarding Conditions of entry for vessels arriving at US ports from certain countries as follows: Please be advised that the U.S. Coast Guard has announced that, effective immediately, it is removing conditions of entry on vessels arriving in the United States from Indonesia. Any vessel arriving in the United States that called in any of the countries listed on page 2 (with exceptions noted) during its previous five (5) port calls must take actions 1 through 5 listed below:
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 log; and
5. Report actions taken to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) prior to arrival in the United States.
The following countries are affected by the U.S. Coast Guard's imposition of conditions of entry:
Republic of Yemen (with the exception of the Ash Shihr Terminal, the Balhalf LNG Terminal and the port of Hodeidah)
1. Comoros
2. Cote d'Ivoire
3. Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
4. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
5. Madagascar (with the exception of Toamasina (also known as Tamatave) - MGTMM- 0001)
6. Venezuela
7. Cambodia (with the exception of the Phnom Pehn Autonomous Port - IMO number not listed; and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port - IMO number not listed)
8. Cuba
9. Cameroon (with the exception of the Ebome Marine Terminal - CM394-0001; Quai GETMA (LAMNALCO Base) Facility - CMDLA-0005; the Société Nationale de Raffinage (SONARA) Terminal - IMO number not listed and the Kome-Kribi 1-CM234- 0001)
10. Equatorial Guinea (with the exception of the ports of Ceiba - GQ362-0001/0002; K-5 Oil Center - IMO number not listed; Luba - GQLUB-0001; Punta Europa Terminal - GQ368-0001; and Zafiro Marine Terminal - GQ370-0001)
11. Guinea-Bissau
12. Iran
13. Liberia (with the exception of the Firestone Facility - IMO number not listed; and Port of Monrovia - IMO Number LRMLW-0001)
14. Syria
Masters of vessels arriving at a U.S. port whose last five (5) port calls included a port in a listed country (with exceptions noted) should expect that the U.S. Coast Guard will board their vessel at sea in order to ensure that the required actions were complied with. Failure to properly MSD 001 (11/01) 3 of 3 MSA No. 62-12 implement the above conditions of entry while in a port in one of the listed countries will most likely result in the vessel being denied entry into the United States.
Based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or examination, the vessels subject to the conditions of entry shown on page 1 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 in items 1 through 4 above, the armed security guard requirement will normally be waived.
However, vessels that visited Monrovia, Liberia (Firestone Facility and Port of Liberia) during their last five port calls prior to entering the United States will not normally be boarded at sea by the Coast Guard unless other targeting factors apply, nor will these vessels be required to provide armed security guards while in ports of the United States.
Owners and operators of vessels that are due to arrive in a U.S. port after calling at a port in any of the countries listed above are strongly urged to review the conditions of entry prior to their vessel arriving at a port in one of these countries.

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