Vessels Coming From Iraq Now Require Additional Security Measures, Coast Guard Says

Vessels coming from the Iraq must take additional security measures before entering the U.S. due to "deficient port anti-terrorism measures," the Coast Guard said in a notice. The U.S. notified the country last year of the issues, but the Coast Guard subsequently found "that Iraq failed to maintain effective anti-terrorism measures with the exceptions of three port facilities," it said. As a result, vessels "that visited a port in the Republic of Iraq in its last five port calls" other than those three acceptable ports are required to meet additional conditions for entry, it said. Additional countries that lack effective anti-terrorism measures and are subject to the security conditions are: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Micronesia, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela and Yemen.