USCG Expands Port Security

The U.S. Coast Guard is in the process of instituting new port security measures. Effective immediately, all deep-draft vessels coming to any port in the US must include in their advance notice of arrival a crew list that includes the nationality of each crew member. While the full list of countries concerned is not yet publicly available, it does include Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the UAE and Uzbekistan.

This new measure is not part of the long-standing Special Interest Vessel (SIV) Programme. Rather it is an effort to ensure that suspect individuals, and individuals with criminal records, do not enter the US. There has already been one instance where the Coast Guard required a master of a listed nationality to be removed from his position before the vessel was allowed to enter port. Source: www.freehill.com