Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protections Service team up to board oil tanker ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The white Ranger pick-up sped down the highway to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office. Petty Officer Clint Mooers was en route to pick up his gear and his partner for a vessel boarding in Nikiski.
“We have a high wind warning in effect for Turnagain Arm and the higher elevations,” chimed a man on the radio. Mooers knew that the flight to Kenai would be bumpy.
Once armed, Mooers and Petty Officer Brady Osborne met the rest of the boarding team at Security Air near the Ted Stevens International Airport. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers were Jack Glover and David Kumpost. Brian Kreowski, an Agriculturist with CBP, was also with the team.
| | | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Petty Officer Clint Mooers is the last to board the Securities Air flight to Kenai. Mooers was part of a six man Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection Service combined team that conducted a security boarding on the vessel Angelica Schulte in Nikiski. Winter weather made the four hour drive to Nikiski to treacherous so the team flew from Anchorage to Kenai and drove 15 minutes to Nikiski to meet the vessel Dec. 8, 2005. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |  |
The five man team boarded an eight-seat twin prop plane and strapped in. It was 9:30 a.m. The sun wouldn’t rise for another half hour. As soon as the plane was airborne the high winds began to toss it around. The team would land in Kenai, about a 20 minute flight, and then drive another 15 minutes to Nikiski to board the ship – Angelica Schulte.
The 797-foot freighter rested at the Kenai Pipeline Dock. As the team approached they surveyed the vessel. A black and red hull two stories high with a green deck greeted the men. As they came onboard a crewman signed each member into the ship’s security log, checked their ID and issued them a guest badge.
| |  | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A crewman aboard the 797-foot Angelica Schulte checks Petty Officer Clint Mooers ID while Petty Officer Brady Osborne signs the ship's log. Each is issued a guest badge. Visitor tracking is a crucial security procedure. Mooers and Osborne proceeded to join the Customs and Border Protection Service Officers and conduct their security boarding on the vessel in Nikiski Dec. 8, 2005. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |
The sun had just begun to rise and the green decks gleamed. The crew joked that the snowfall during the voyage had washed the deck clean. Another crewmember dressed in white coveralls, a yellow hardhat and a blue parka with the operator company name Vorsetzen embroidered across the back led them to the interior of the ship.
On the second deck of the superstructure the team was met by the captain, Marian Mihalcea. Kumpost and Osborne delved into a box of passports and began verifying the crew’s identifications. They checked each passport against the crew manifest and the ship’s advance arrival notification report.
To authenticate the passports each is closely examined for things like misalignments, misspellings, mismatching inks and holograms. UV light tests can detect some of these as well as security fibers in the papers. Finally the photos were compared to the passport holders in person.
| | | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Officer David Kumpost and Petty Officer Brady Osborne process a shoebox full of passports aboard the Angelica Schulte. Passports are compared to crew lists and closely examined for misalignments, misspellings, mismatching inks and holograms. The photos were compared to the passport holders in person during the Coast Guard and Customs Border Protection Service joint boarding in Nikiski Dec. 8, 2005. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |  |
All 20 crew were present and had proper documentation: either a D1 or a D2 visa. The visa allows the holder to conduct business in the U.S. for a period of 29 days. They will leave when their business is concluded or when the 29 day period is up, which ever comes first. A D1 visa is for a person who enters and leaves the U.S. on the vessel. A D2 visa is for a person disembarking the ship permanently and returning to another country.
There are several benefits to combined Coast Guard, CBP boardings. Coast Guard and CBP jurisdictions are different. The Coast Guard’s main interests are security and safety. CBP officers process the cargo, enforce the Immigration Naturalization Act and look for agricultural concerns.
A security boarding is an examination by an armed boarding team of a vessel (including the cargo, documentation and persons onboard) designated by the Captain of the Port (COTP) to deter acts of terrorism and/or transportation security incidents.
Coast Guard teams check logs, crew manifests, security plans and procedures and visually inspect safety equipment. Although checking safety equipment is not related to security it is part of the Coast Guard’s mission to maintain the safety of life at sea. Boarding teams do not have marine investigators with them so if a major violation is noted it is immediately reported to the COTP and followed up on. Coast Guard members can enter any common space. To enter a private space they must have the permission of the crew or probable cause that a violation of a federal law is being committed. CBP, on the other hand, has border search authority and can search any space they deem necessary.
| | | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Petty Officer Clint Mooers reviews the log books with Captain Marian Mihalcea. Verifying the logs is a standard procedure during a security boarding. The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection Service conducted a joint boarding of the Angelica Schulte on Dec. 8, 2005. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |  |
Mooers and Glover made rounds of the ship starting on the bridge and working their way down to the engine room. The captain escorted them to the bridge where Mooers reviewed the ships log and continuous synopsis report. He verified that the ship had conducted their pre-arrival checks and that the logs were synchronized. The chief security officer, Walter Chivescu, took the men on a tour of the vessel to verify that all of the restricted spaces were locked and safety equipment was in compliance. After walking the length of the main deck and back and inspecting the boatswain’s store the chief engineer, Guido Caseres, took the two into the engine room.
A space the size of a small basketball court and three stories high, engineering was immaculate. Mooers couldn’t find an oil spot. The 14,000 Kilowatt Sulzer engine looks like a Rolls Royce in the center of the room, silver and shining. A maze of white catwalks carries workers to and from each level.
In the spare parts room Glover rifles through some bags of rags and a few parts boxes looking for anything out of the ordinary but comes up empty handed. The crew was eager to show off their vessel and answer any questions. The team inspects the shop room and the control room before meeting up with the rest of the boarding team. Each space is uber-tidy.
| |  | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Officer Jack Glover follows Chief Engineer Guido Caseres through the engineroom during an inspection. Coast Guard and Customs Border Protection Service personnel boarded the Angelica Schulte in Nikiski on Dec. 8, 2005 to conduct a security boarding. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |
CBP is mandated to board any vessel that is a foreign arrival. When CBP and the Coast Guard need to board the same vessel it makes sense to combine the two into one team. A Coast Guard boarding team consists of at least four members. By using members from both services the total number from each service can be reduced allowing more total manpower to be available across Alaska. Combined teams expedite the boarding process for the Coast Guard, CBP and the vessel crew by allowing all the issues to be addressed simultaneously. Additionally the vessel crew only needs to stop their routine once to accommodate a boarding team not twice.
“It’s a good chance for us to cross train and develop partnerships,” said Lt. Tim Callister, chief of port security at the Marine Safety Office. “By becoming familiar with other agencies procedures we are able to identify potential discrepancies and notify appropriate personnel for action.”
Osborne added that Coast Guard personnel augmenting CBP teams gives more effective officer safety since CBP teams are usually two to three personnel. When the team breaks off to accomplish their missions no one has to be on their own on the vessel.
While the others are engaged in their perspective missions Kreowski makes his rounds in the galley, stores area and takes a look at the ship’s trash. Agriculturalists are trained to look for potential pest threats like rats and insects, for example the Asian Gypsy Moth. The moths are a threat to North American forests. Other insects can threaten crops and orchards. With the current concerns about bird flu agriculturalists document any kind poultry that is onboard. The crew is allowed to have just about any type of food as long as it stays onboard the vessel. Finally they inspect the trash to make sure it’s being regulated. It’s either stored or incinerated onboard. If trash needs to be offloaded they make sure it’s taken to a regulated landfill. This is a measure to protect U.S. agricultural from any potential threat that may exist in the garbage.
| | | ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Petty Officer Brady Osborne surveys the vessel Angelica Schulte from shore following a security boarding on the vessel Dec. 8, 2005. The 797-foot petroleum tank vessel was moored at the Kenai Pipeline Dock in Nikiski. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis) |  |
The team found all the paperwork and spaces to be in order. The Angelica Schulte crew loaded petroleum from the Kenai Pipeline and is headed for their next port of call.
The Angelica Schulte is one of two crude oil tankers in the Vorsetzen Bereederungs- und Schiffahrtskontor GmbH & Co.’s 29 vessel fleet. It is the company’s newest ship, launched in 2005. The vessel is flagged out of Liberia with its homeport in Monrovia, Liberia. The crew is comprised of men from Romania, Venezuela, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine and the Philippines. |
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