H1N1 Influenza

Unless your living under a rock, you're probably aware of the H1N1 Influenza virus (formerly called Swine Flu) that has been popping up around the US. While not a direct Maritime Security issue, we've been doing quite a bit of outreach here at the Coast Guard to inform and prepare the Maritime Industry. Here are some of the activities we've been up to:

• We've been very involved with the the Area Maritime Security Committees in helping them develop Pandemic Flu plans for the past year. While there have been various levels of success, the fact that the discussion has been ongoing well before this incident is a strong indicator that 'Semper Paratus' isn't just a catch phrase
• The CG has been working with DHS, CDC, and HHS since February to discuss aspects of the October 2005 DHS-HHS MOU and associated issues toward their further refinement and implementation.
• Recently, we've been pushing out specific H1N1 information out to our partners through the National Industry Security Partners (NISP) Collaberation Community in Homeport and have updated the public side of Homeport to provide useful information and links on what's going on with this highly dynamic situation.

The bottom line is that we've been making every effort to get everyone informed and prepped. Feel free to head over to Homeport and see what's there.

Next NMSAC Meeting 4 May 2009

Our next public meeting will be May 4th at USCG Headquarters. We will have a public portion, from 9-12, and portion closed to the public in the afternoon. The purpose of the second half of the meeting is to discuss national security matters.

Because these matters are of a sensitive and lassified nature, it has been determined that this portion of the committee meeting will be closed to the public pursuant to subsection (c)(1)of section 552b of Title 5 U.S.C.

You can see the official Federal Register notice here.

Piracy

It's certainly not a new problem for those of us who've worked in the industry, but it has been getting alot of attention as of late. NMSAC has not been tasked to discuss or provide guidance on the piracy issues, and quite frankly, it's not a domestic security issue. But for those of you who are interested, a reall great place to start is The International Maritme Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre.

Also of note, today the Department of State, on their DIPNOTE blog, opened up a discussion on piracy, you can check it out here.

And last, but certainly not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't point you to ADM Allen's blog, iCommandant to get the Coast Guard Leadership point of view.

So, what are your thoughts on dealing with the Piracy issue?

TWIC Reader Requirement ANPRM

Today an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that discusses the Coast Guard's preliminary proposals on potential requirements for owners and operators of certain vessels and facilities regulated by the Coast Guard to use electronic readers designed to work with Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) cards as an access control measure will be available for public inspection at the Federal Register website, http://www.regulations.gov.

The ANPRM will publish tomorrow, 27 March 2009. The advance notice is a step toward full implementation of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 transportation security card requirement as well as requirements of the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 for regulations on electronic readers designed for use with TWICs. The Coast Guard intends to hold one public meeting in the Washington, D.C. region during the ANPRM comment period and the date and details will bepublished in the Federal Register as soon as they are confirmed (we'll post them on this blog, too).

The Coast Guard encourages the public to participate in this rulemaking by submitting comments and related materials to the docket at http://www.regulations.gov, docket number: USCG-2007-28915. All comments received will be posted without change. Please do not provide comments on the ANPRM on this blog.

NMSAC Web 2.0 presence mentioned

Thanks to our friend, Mr. Dennis Bryant, who posted a blurb on his new blog about the NMSAC presence on Facebook, LinkedIn as well as this blog.

For those of you who used to get his daily emails from Knight and Holland (which he stopped doing just recently), he's now putting out the same info on his blog. Check him out.

Next NMSAC meeting has been postponed

As a result of some scheduling conflicts, we will be postponing the March 16 NMSAC meeting until a later date (probably some time in April).

We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Commndant's State of The Cost Guard Address

For your review and comment: