[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 103 (Friday, May 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30954-30955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13174]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2011-0255]
Notification of the Imposition of Conditions of Entry for Certain
Vessels Arriving to the United States From the Union of the Comoros and
the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces that it will impose conditions of
entry on vessels arriving from the countries of the Union of the
Comoros and the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire.
DATES: The policy announced in this notice will become effective June
10, 2011.
ADDRESSES: This notice is part of docket USCG-2011-0255 and is
available online by going to http://www.regulations.gov, inserting
USCG-2011-0255 in the ``Keyword'' box, and then clicking ``Search.''
The material is also available for inspection and copying at the Docket
Management Facility at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Room W12-
140 on the Ground Floor of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue,
SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
This policy is also available at http://www.homeport.uscg.mil under the
Maritime Security tab; International Port Security Program (ISPS Code);
Port Security Advisory link.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
call Mr. Michael Brown, International Port Security Evaluation
Division, United States Coast Guard, telephone 202--372-1081. If you
have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call
Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-366-
9826 or (toll free) 1-800-647-5527.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Purpose
Section 70110 of title 46, United States Code, enacted as part of
section 102(a) of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002
(Pub. L. 107-295, Nov. 25, 2002) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland
Security to impose conditions of entry on vessels requesting entry into
the United States arriving from ports that are not maintaining
effective anti-terrorism measures. It also requires public notice of
the ineffective anti-terrorism measures. The Secretary has delegated to
the Coast Guard authority to carry out the provisions of this section.
See Department of Homeland Security Delegation No. 0170.1, sec. 97.
Previous notices have imposed or removed conditions of entry on vessels
arriving from certain countries, and those conditions of entry and the
countries they pertain to remain in effect unless modified by this
notice.
The Coast Guard has determined that ports in the Union of the
Comoros and the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire are not maintaining effective
anti-terrorism measures. To make these determinations, the Coast Guard
International Port Security (IPS) Program conducted an initial visit to
the Union of the Comoros in November 2009, and conducted an initial
visit to the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire in January 2010. In our
investigations of both countries, significant deficiencies were found
in the legal regime, designated authority oversight, access control,
and cargo control. In September 2010, the Deputy Commandant for
Operations made findings that effective anti-terrorism measures were
not in place in the ports of Comoros and Cote d'Ivoire. Inclusive to
these determinations is an assessment that the Union of the
[[Page 30955]]
Comoros and the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire present significant risk of
introducing instruments of terror into international maritime commerce.
The Coast Guard notified the Department of State of these
determinations pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 70110(c).
The United States notified the Union of the Comoros of this
determination in October 2010 and the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire in
November 2010, and identified steps necessary to improve the
antiterrorism measures in place at their respective ports, as required
by 46 U.S.C. 70109. Neither of these countries has offered a response
to our communications on these matters. To date, the United States
cannot confirm that the identified deficiencies have been corrected.
Accordingly, effective June 10, 2011, the Coast Guard will impose
the following conditions of entry on vessels that visited ports in the
Union of the Comoros and/or the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire during their
last five port calls. Vessels must:
Implement measures per the ship's security plan equivalent
to Security Level 2 while in a port in the Union of the Comoros or the
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire. 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.''
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 while the vessel is in ports in the Union
of the Comoros or the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire.
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. 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.''
Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a
port in the Union of the Comoros or the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire;
Log all security actions in the ship's log; and
Report actions taken to the cognizant Coast Guard Captain
of the Port prior to arrival into U.S. waters.
In addition, based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or
examination, vessels may be required to ensure that each access point
to the ship 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 Coast Guard Captain of the Port
prior to the vessel's arrival.
With this notice, the current list of countries not maintaining
effective anti-terrorism measures is as follows: Cambodia, Cameroon,
Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Iran, Liberia, Madagascar, Sao Tome and
Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, and Venezuela. This current list is also
available in the policy notice available on the Homeport system as
described in the ADDRESSES section above.
This notice is issued under authority of 46 U.S.C. 70110(a)(3).
Dated: May 23, 2011.
Rear Admiral Brian M. Salerno,
USCG, Deputy Commandant for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2011-13174 Filed 5-26-11; 8:45 am]
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