U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act

November 2002

On 14 November 2002 the U.S. Senate approved the Maritime Transportation Security Act 2002 (S. 1214). This legislation has been introduced to improve significantly security at U.S. seaports.

The Act delegates tasks to the Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, Customs Service and other agencies as part of an overall regime to create a national system for securing U.S. maritime borders and designates funding for this purpose.  

The provisions which will have the most direct impact on vessel owners and operators include the following:

• Vessels are to have comprehensive security plans and incident response plans based on detailed Coast Guard vulnerability assessments and security recommendations. The plans are to be approved by the Coast Guard. Vessels are required to operate under approved security plans. (Similar provisions apply to ports and waterfront facilities.) Pending implementation of this requirement, the Coast Guard has recently issued a Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (No.10 02), "Security Guidelines For Vessels", which provides guidance on this issue giving operators the opportunity to prepare, on a voluntary basis, for what will become a mandatory requirement.  

• Improved reporting of crew members, passengers and imported cargo to enable better tracking of suspicious activity. Seafarers will also will be required to carry "acceptable identification".

• Commercial vessels will be required to be equipped with and operate an automatic identification system (AIS)* when navigating on the waters of the United States, as well as a long range vessel tracking system for vessels on international voyages that include United States waters to ensure that vessel movements can be tracked. 

• The Coast Guard is specifically authorised to board ships entering U.S. ports in order to deter hijackings or other terrorist threats

The Act also authorises a $90m research and development grant  to increase the ability of the U.S. Customs Service to inspect merchandise carried on any vessel that will arrive in the United States, to develop equipment to detect nuclear materials and to improve the tags and seals used on shipping containers, including smart sensors for tracking shipments.

As reported in earlier article on vessel security plans, the regulations which will implement the various requirements of this Act will only be introduced after the consultation process following a Notice of Proposed Rule Making. Due to the sensitive and immediate nature of security issues, rapid implementation of these rules is anticipated. It is thought that the  regulations will be made final by Spring 2003 and Vessel Security Plans will need to be submitted to the Coast Guard by Spring 2004**. 

These measures will overlap with the security measures expected to be introduced shortly by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) following its Diplomatic Conference in December 2002, including the requirements for company security officers, ship security plans and seafarer identification. It is understood, however, that there has been great cooperation between the U.S. Coast Guard and IMO and it is hoped that ultimately one form of vessel security plan and other requirements will be sufficient to satisfy both regimes.    

(Unless otherwise indicated, the information for this article was obtained from the website of Senator Fritz Hollings who co-sponsored the legislation.) 

 

U.S. - Maritime Transportation Security Act - Executive Summary (February 2003 - Steamship website article).

See also other articles on Maritime Security on the Steamship website.

* Installation of AIS equipment pursuant to SOLAS provisions is still some years away for many ships built before 1 July 2002. The timetable of current IMO requirements for installation appears in a Steamship Sea Venture article on AIS Transponders. However, since the events of 11 September 2001 the question of accelerating the required installation dates has been debated and will shortly be considered at the IMO Diplomatic Conference in December 2002. Even if this suggestion is rejected by IMO, the U.S. requirements may, nonetheless, have the effect of accelerating the SOLAS  requirements for installation of this equipment. 

** Thanks to ECM Maritime Services for this information.