US Blacklists 7 Countries for Poor Port Security

Seven countires with poor port security and who failed to comply with the ISPS international standards will get special treatment as reported here:

Anti-terrorism safeguards are so lax in seven countries that U.S. officials will now board and screen all ships that recently docked in those nations before allowing them to enter U.S. ports, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

It said Madagascar, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Albania and Nauru had failed to comply with the ISPS international maritime security standards imposed last year and therefore lacked effective anti-terrorism measures in their ports.

The Coast Guard also said that from May 23, all ships that dock in these states on one of their previous five stops would automatically be denied entry to the United States unless they take tough new security precautions, such as placing guards at all access points to the ship while in a blacklisted state.

Lesson - "Shape up or your ships are out (for at least a while)."