U.S. Coast Guard denies entry to ships in ISPS crackdown

U.S. Coast Guard denies entry to ships in ISPS crackdown    The U.S. Coast Guard Thursday denied entry to six non-U.S.-flag vessels out of 270 that arrived at U.S. ports on the first day of enforcement of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code and the U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act.
   In a short statement based on numbers as of 6 p.m. Thursday, the Coast Guard said it inspected 78 foreign vessels in port.
   Adm. Thomas Collins, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, told Reuters the six ships were denied entry for failing to have valid new security certificates. He did not name the flags of the six ships carried, and denied that the new regime has had a significant impact on trade.
   Only about 56 percent of the world’s fleet of ships have valid ISPS security certificates, according to the International Maritime Organization. The United Nations agency, which prepared the ISPS code, said Thursday there had been “administrative bottlenecks” in the run up to the implementation date of the code. Without these bottlenecks, the reported 56-percent compliance would have been higher, it added.
   “Important though certification undoubtedly is, what really counts is the work that has been done on the ground: security officers appointed on ships, in companies and port facilities, training undertaken, security plans drawn up, awareness raised, and vigilance heightened,” said Efthimios Mitropoulos, secretary-general of the IMO.