Coast Guard tightens security rules for non-ISPS-compliant nations

Coast Guard tightens security rules for non-ISPS-compliant nations    The U.S. Coast Guard said seven nations remain on its list of countries that have not complied with antiterrorism measures in their ports as required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
   The countries are Albania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania and Nauru.
   Vessels from those countries 'during their last five port calls will be boarded at sea and subject to other port state control measures prior to being permitted to enter a U.S. port,' the Coast Guard said in a statement.
   The Coast Guard may also impose operational restrictions, such as daylight transits only, or deny vessels entry to the United States.
   In this latest advisory, the Coast Guard said a minimum number of precautions must be taken on all vessels, including U.S.-flag ships, that visited one of the listed nations during their last five port calls — or the ships will be denied entry into U.S. ports, effective May 23.
   The precautions include bringing the ship's security plan to security level 2, and ensuring that each access point to a vessel is guarded and that guards have 'total visibility of the exterior, both landside and waterside, of a vessel while it is in port in the listed countries. The same stipulations now apply when all such ships are in U.S. ports.' The number and position of the guards has to be acceptable to the Coast Guard captain of the port, the Coast Guard noted.
   Other required precautions are executing a vessel declaration of security, recording security actions in a ship's log, and reporting all actions taken to the Coast Guard captain of the port prior to arrival in a U.S. port.