This post covers the second session of the January 2012 meeting of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (MMSAC). This session, on the afternoon of January 18th, had two topics: a discussion of the Certain Dangerous Cargo Security Initiative and an unscheduled agenda item on using Port Security Grant Program funds to help US vessel operators defray security upgrades for operations in high risk waters.
The first morning session of the January meeting of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) opened with a lengthy Welcome/Farewell Address by NMSAC sponsor, short remarks by the Committee’s Executive Director, and what was labeled a discussion of requirements for vessel guards while in port. These were followed briefings/discussions of Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA)/Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Harmonization, Maritime Domain Awareness and Information Sharing, the long-planned “MTSA II Regulations,” and harmonization of US and Canadian maritime transportation security regimes.
A meeting of the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) will be held in Arlington, VA, on January 18th and 19th, according to a US Coast Guard Notice published in the Federal Register on January 9th.
UPDATE, 1/4/12: The Notice of Policy has been published at 77 Federal Register page 232 and is also available online.
The USCG Coast Guard’s proposed rulemaking on revisions to Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Requirements for Mariners has cleared the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) regulatory review process. The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and should be published in the Federal Register shortly.
On December 6th the UK Department for Transport (DfT) posted on its website two documents providing guidance for UK-flagged vessels on countering piracy and armed robbery against ships. They include guidance allowing the use of armed guards against Somali pirates, implementing a change in policy that was promised in October.
If you weren’t able to comment before the September 30 deadline on the US Coast Guard’s Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) on implementing STCW Convention and Code amendments and changes to domestic merchant marine endorsements, you have a second chance. Ditto if you’d like to repeat or expand on comments you did make.
MARAD has released a study to "inform future maritime policy" that writes domestic industry and workers out of the ocean-carrier business. This is just the tip of the iceberg of where the agency has been going recently. Some alternatives are...
The two are rarely seen in the same sentence anymore. And, (partly) because of it, the brain drain from the global mariner pool will continue unabated. But, there’s much more to the broken equation than that…
Ten days after posting its initial version of the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) registry on its website, as previously reported, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has issued a press release announcing the establishment of the publicly available registry. Establishment of the registry is an early step in implementing the CUI program. The CUI program matters to maritime transportation security, because it will ultimately impact on how Sensitive Security Information (SSI) is dealt with.