[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 45 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 12186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-975]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2008-0025]


Notification of the Imposition of Conditions of Entry for Certain 
Vessels Arriving to the United States; Syria

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 country of Syria.

DATES: The policy announced in this notice will become effective March 
20, 2008.

ADDRESSES: This notice will be 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call Mr. Michael Brown, International Port Security Evaluation 
Division, 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose

    Section 70110 of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 
(Pub. L. 107-295, Nov. 25, 2002) provides that the Secretary of 
Homeland Security may impose conditions of entry on vessels requesting 
entry into the United States arriving from ports that are not 
maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures. The Coast Guard has been 
delegated the authority by the Secretary to carry out the provisions of 
this section. The Docket contains previous notices imposing or removing 
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 Syria are not 
maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures. Accordingly, effective 
March 20, 2008 the Coast Guard will impose the following conditions of 
entry on vessels that visited ports in Syria 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 above country;
     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 above 
country. 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;
     Attempt to execute a Declaration of Security while in a 
port in the above country;
     Log all security actions in the ship's log;
     Report actions taken to the cognizant U.S. Coast Guard 
Captain of the Port prior to arrival into U.S. waters; and
     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: Cameroon, Equatorial 
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Liberia, Mauritania, and Syria.

    Dated: February 29, 2008.
Rear Admiral David Pekoske, USCG,
Assistant Commandant for Operations.
[FR Doc. 08-975 Filed 3-3-08; 3:22pm]
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