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Thu Oct 30 05:17:50 GMT 2008

The below article was sent to you from Mike Feltham (mj.feltham at madasafish.com) with the following message: I thought you might be interested in the article below.

At long last, the USCG have finally woken up !

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USCG gets tough on terminals that refuse shore leave
Thursday 30 October 2008

A NEW US Coast Guard directive has given the clearest indication yet of the federal agency&#8217;s willingness to tackle the issue of seafarer access to shore leave directly with private terminals who refuse to grant it. 
While the directive stops short of mandating that the terminals allow shore leave, the language clearly indicates that granting such access is the USCG&#8217;s tacit expectation from terminals. 
The shore leave provision is a clear component of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code that was implemented as of July 1, 2004. 
However, several private terminals in the US have refused shore access to foreign as well as US mariners, even with valid visas. 
In some cases, terminals require seafarers to pay cash fees for such access. Sources say these fees can run from $250 to $800. 
The impending arrival of the US Transportation Worker Identification Credential, which mandates that only TWIC card holders be given access to shoreside facilities, is expected to add a new element of trouble to the shore access issue. 
This is because non-TWIC holding mariners &#8212; a category that would include almost all foreigners &#8212; would be required to be escorted through the port facility by a TWIC holder, who would normally be a port chaplain or someone from the local maritime ministry. 
Maritime ministries spearheaded by the North American Maritime Ministry Association have demanded that the USCG step in and rectify what the association believes is a violation of the letter as well as the spirit of the ISPS Code. 
USCG officials through the years have admitted in private, the validity of this issue. 
However, the USCG continues enforcing regulation 33 CFR in subchapter 11, which uses the phrase &#8220;must ensure co-ordination of shore leave&#8221;. 
This is in contrast to the language in the ISPS Code, which requires terminals unambiguously to implement &#8220;procedures to facilitate&#8221; shore leave. 
Some USCG officials in the past have sought to highlight that the agency cannot legally &#8220;force&#8221; terminals to grant shore leave. 
A maritime ministry source in Texas told Lloyd&#8217;s List that this ambiguity had allowed many terminals to deny shore leave with impunity, often with the quasi-true disclaimer that the &#8220;terminal cannot allow such leave because of USCG requirements&#8221;. 
The latest directive which has been sent out to all captains of the port in the US under USCG Commandant Thad Allen&#8217;s authority, sets out the agency&#8217;s clear, if implied, disapproval of such moves. 
&#8220;Regulated facilities have, in some cases, refused to grant this access using security considerations as the rationale,&#8221; the directive notes. 
&#8220;Others have denied access because of perceived liability issues if persons not in their employ are injured while on the facility.&#8221; 
The document also makes it clear that only US immigration officials have the final say on whether a mariner can come ashore. It notes: &#8220;Although a valid visa does not automatically guarantee access if Customs and Border Protection determines that access may compromise security, the denial of access to shore leave by a regulated facility to those holding a valid visa and having clearance from CBP as well as the denial of access to representatives of seafarers welfare organisations runs counter to the intent of USCG regulations.&#8221;

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