Coast Guard Announces Draft Maritime Security Program Vessel Inspection Guidance

The Coast Guard issued a request for comments to be published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2012 regarding its policies and procedures for the inspection of U.S. flag vessels enrolled in the Maritime Security Program. The proposed guidance would detail the Coast Guard’s process for issuing a Certificate of Inspection to MSP vessels for the first time. The draft circular proposes to establish a “comprehensive approach” to the MSP inspection process, which would include a two-level approach composed of “MSP (Regular)” and “MSP Select.” MSP (Regular) would apply traditional inspection methods to newly reflagged vessels, whereas MSP Select would entail a less stringent level of oversight for vessels that have an established history of satisfactory compliance and performance. Comments may be submitted to the public docket, No. USCG-2011-1156, at www.regulations.gov within 60 days.