USCG Removes Conditions of Entry for Vessels Arriving from Mauritania–Updated

UPDATE: The US Coast Guard Notice referred to below was published on April 5th at 76 Federal Register 18771 and PSA 02-11 has been posted on Homeport and may be accessed as described below.
Original Post: Tomorrow (4/5/11), the Federal Register will carry a Coast Guard Notice removing conditions of entry on vessels arriving from Mauritania. “Based on recent information, the Coast Guard has determined that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is now maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures, and is accordingly removing the conditions of entry announced in” May 2005. Actually, vessels that had visited only the port of Nouakchott and two other terminals in Mauritania were already excepted from the conditions of entry. Countries remaining on the list of those considered not to be maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures are: Cambodia, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Iran, Liberia, Madagascar, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, and Venezuela, although some ports and/or terminals in some of these countries are exempted from the conditions of entry.
The following summarized conditions of entry are imposed on vessels arriving in the US from a country on the list (other than from an exempted port/terminal):
1. Implement measures per the ship’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2 while in port in the affected countries.
 
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.
 
3. Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security.
 
4. Log all security actions in the ship’s log.
 
5. Report actions taken to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port prior to arrival in the U.S.
To see the exempted ports and terminals and the actual wording of the conditions on entry, go to the Coast Guard’s Homeport website, click on “IPS Program” in the menu “Featured Homeport Links” on the right side of the page, then click on “Port Security Advisory” in the menu under “International Port Security Program (ISPS Code)” on the left side of the page. This should bring up the list of various Port Security Advisories (PSAs), including Port Security Advisory – Conditions of Entry (02-11). If PSA 02-11 hasn’t been posted to Homeport yet, exempted ports and terminals and the conditions of entry can be found in PSA 03-10.
NOTE: This post may be copied, distributed, and displayed and derivative works may be based on it, provided it is attributed to Maritime Transportation Security News and Views by John C. W. Bennett, http://mpsint.com.
By Professional Mariner Staff