Effective May 30 the Coast Guard will impose certain conditions of entry on all vessels that visited any port in Djibouti (other than the Doraleh Container Terminal or the Doraleh Oil Terminal) in their last five port calls. Any vessel that does not meet these conditions may be denied entry into the U.S.
The Coast Guard is imposing these conditions because it has determined that ports in Djibouti are not maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures and that Djibouti’s designated authority’s oversight, access control, security monitoring, security training programs, and security plans, drills, and exercises are all deficient.
Under the conditions of entry, affected vessels must do the following.
- implement measures per the vessel’s security plan equivalent to security level 2 while in port in Djibouti
- 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 it is in port in Djibouti
- attempt to execute a declaration of security while in port in Djibouti
- log all security actions in the vessel’s security records
- 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 is guarded by armed private security guards who have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while in U.S. ports.
The current list of countries not maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures in their ports and therefore subject to conditions of entry is as follows: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Micronesia, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela, and Yemen.
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