Imposition of Conditions of Entry for Vessels Arriving to US from Gambia

Posted on June 22, 2015

The Coast Guard announces that it will impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving from the Gambia. Conditions of entry are intended to protect the United States from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient port antiterrorism  measures in place.
The policy will become effective July 6, 2015.

On September 25, 2013 the Coast Guard did not find that ports in the Republic of the Gambia maintained effective anti-terrorism measures and that the Republic of the Gambia’s legal regime, designated authority oversight, access control and cargo control are all deficient. On July 16, 2014, the Republic of the Gambia was notified of this determination and given
recommendations for improving antiterrorism measures and 90 days to respond. To date, USCG cannot confirm that the Republic of the Gambia has corrected the identified deficiencies. Accordingly, beginning July 6, 2015, the conditions of entry will apply to any vessel that visited a port in the Republic of the Gambia in its last five port calls.

As per USCG following countries currently do not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures and are therefore subject to
conditions of entry: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela, and Yemen. This list is also available in a policy notice available at https://homeport.uscg.mil under the Maritime Security tab; International Port Security Program (ISPS Code); Port Security Advisory link.

Following measures to be implemented as conditions for entry to US waters.

1. Implement measures per the vessel’s security plan equivalent to Security Level 2 while in a port in the Republic of the Gambia. As defined in the ISPS Code and incorporated herein, ‘‘Security Level 2’’ refers to the ‘‘level for which appropriate additional protective security measures shall be maintained for a period of time as a result of heightened risk of a security incident.’’
2. Ensure that each access point to the vessel is guarded and that the guards have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while the vessel is in ports in the Republic of the Gambia.
3. Guards may be provided by the vessel’s crew; however, additional crew members should be placed on the vessel 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 vessel’s master and Company Security Officer. As defined in the ISPS Code and incorporated herein, ‘‘Company Security Officer’’ refers to the ‘‘person designated by the Company for ensuring that a ship security assessment is carried out; that a ship security plan is developed, submitted for approval, and thereafter implemented and maintained and for liaison with port facility security officers and the ship security officer.’’
4. Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a port in the Republic of the Gambia.
5. Log all security actions in the vessel’s security records.
6. Report actions taken to the cognizant Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) prior to arrival into U.S. waters.
7. In addition, based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or examination, the vessel may be required to ensure that each access point to the vessel is guarded by armed, private 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 position of the guards has to be acceptable to the cognizant COTP prior to the vessel’s arrival.

USCG may be revising the PSA very soon.

Source: USCG