Coast Guard adds Somalia to list of countries whose ports lack effective antiterrorism measures

By Calvin Strand

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday added Somalia to its Port Security Advisory, imposing conditions of entry on vessels that arrive in U.S. waters after calling at Somali ports. The move takes effect immediately and makes Somalia the 24th country on the list, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

The Coast Guard said it acted under the Maritime Transportation Security Act, which authorizes it to impose conditions of entry on vessels arriving from ports that it “has not found to maintain effective antiterrorism measures.” The notice states that “the U.S. Coast Guard has determined that Somalia is not maintaining effective antiterrorism measures in its ports and is imposing conditions of entry on vessels arriving to the U.S. from the ports of Somalia.” It was signed by Vice Adm. Nathan A. Moore, the deputy commandant for operations.

The notice does not describe the specific deficiencies the Coast Guard found in Somalia or list any port facilities exempted from the conditions. It names Edward Munoz, division chief for international port security assessments, as the contact for questions.

Somalia is the fifth country placed under conditions of entry since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, following Cuba, North Korea, Suriname and Haiti, according to a review of every Coast Guard conditions-of-entry notice published in the Federal Register since the program began in 2005. Over the same period the Coast Guard removed two countries, Djibouti and Nigeria, after finding that their ports now met the standard.

What the designation requires

The Coast Guard’s conditions of entry apply to any vessel that has visited a listed country within its last five port calls. Recent notices that spell the conditions out, such as the 2019 notice adding Seychelles, require each such vessel to:

• implement measures under its ship security plan equivalent to Security Level 2, the international standard for a heightened risk of a security incident, while in the listed country’s ports;
• guard each access point to the vessel, with guards who have full visibility of the vessel’s exterior on both the landside and waterside;
• attempt to execute a Declaration of Security with the port;
• log all security actions in the vessel’s security records; and
• report the actions taken to the Coast Guard captain of the port before arriving in U.S. waters.

Based on the findings of a Coast Guard boarding or examination, a vessel may also be required to post armed private security guards at each access point while it is in a U.S. port, in numbers and positions acceptable to the local captain of the port, the 2019 notice says.

The designations are the end of a structured process. Under 46 U.S.C. 70108, the Coast Guard assesses the antiterrorism measures at foreign ports, under 46 U.S.C. 70109 it notifies a government whose ports fall short and recommends improvements, and under 46 U.S.C. 70110 conditions of entry generally take effect 90 days after that notification unless the government fixes the problems first. The law also allows them to take effect immediately in some circumstances. The Seychelles notice illustrates the sequence: the Coast Guard found deficiencies in April 2018, notified the government that May, returned in August 2018 to check progress and imposed conditions in April 2019. The Somalia notice does not give dates for its assessment.

A 2023 change to the law created a second route. Section 5603 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 directs the Department of Homeland Security to deem any port controlled by a state sponsor of terrorism as lacking effective antiterrorism measures. The Coast Guard cited that provision when it reinstated conditions on Cuba in March 2025 and when it added North Korea in August 2025. Cuba had been removed from the list in 2016.

A list that rarely shrinks

The Coast Guard first imposed conditions of entry in May 2005, on vessels arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Nauru. Guinea-Bissau has been on the list continuously since. Of the 24 countries now on it, 15 were first designated before 2016.

The record shows 34 designations and 10 removals over 21 years. Removals have generally followed Coast Guard return visits. Liberia was removed in December 2020 on the basis of assessments conducted in 2018, Côte d’Ivoire was removed in 2022 and Nigeria was removed in August 2026 after the Coast Guard determined it “is maintaining effective antiterrorism measures in its ports.”

Dates are Federal Register publication dates. Cuba’s date reflects its original 2008 designation; the second linked notice is its 2025 reinstatement.

Designations by administration

Counting each Federal Register notice that placed a country under conditions of entry, the pace has varied across administrations. Nauru and Cuba are each counted twice because they were designated, removed and later designated again.

The Bush-era count includes Venezuela, designated Jan. 16, 2009, four days before the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Liberia’s removal, published in December 2020, is counted under Trump’s first term; the single Biden-era removal is Côte d’Ivoire.

Tightening exemptions

Beyond adding countries, the Coast Guard has this year narrowed the carve-outs that once let vessels call at specific approved terminals in listed countries without triggering the conditions. In February it revoked port facility exemptions for Cameroon, Iraq and Madagascar, explaining that “effective antiterrorism measures require government oversight and security functions like risk assessments, drills, enforcement, and intelligence sharing cannot be delegated to individual facilities.” In May it revoked the exemptions for Equatorial Guinea, saying the government “lacks proper oversight of its facilities.”

Iraq’s 2018 designation, for example, had exempted three facilities: the Al-Basrah Oil Terminal, the Khor Al Amaya Oil Terminal and Al Maqal Terminal 14, according to the 2018 notice. Equatorial Guinea’s 2006 designation exempted Punta Europa, K-5, Luba, Zafiro and Ceiba. The Somalia notice lists no exemptions.

What comes next

The Coast Guard has said conditions of entry “are intended to protect the United States from vessels arriving from countries that have been found to have deficient port anti-terrorism measures in place,” as its 2024 notice adding Sudan put it. Countries can be removed after a later assessment finds their ports meet the standard, as Nigeria’s August removal showed.

As of Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard’s Port Security Advisory page listed the August advisory removing Nigeria as its most recent update.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, Somalia’s embassy and the leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.