Marine Transportation Security Regulations (SOR/2004-144)

237. At MARSEC level 1, security procedures for access control shall be established in the vessel security plan, to the extent that they are appropriate to the vessel’s operations, including

• (a) the authorized screening of persons and goods at a frequency specified in the plan;

• (b) verifications of the identification of any person seeking to board the vessel and examining at least one of the following:

  • (i) joining instructions,

  • (ii) a passenger ticket,

  • (iii) a boarding pass,

  • (iv) work orders or surveyor orders,

  • (v) governmental identification,

  • (vi) a restricted area pass, or

  • (vii) visitor badges issued in accordance with an identification system;

• (c) the denial or revocation of a person’s authorization to be on board if the person is unable or unwilling, at the request of vessel personnel, to establish their identity or to account for their presence on board;

• (d) reporting of any incident referred to in paragraph (c) to the company security officer, vessel security officer, marine facility security officer, port security officer, if applicable, and the appropriate law enforcement agencies;

• (e) means to deter unauthorized access to the vessel;

• (f) the identification of access points that must have secured means of entry or be attended to deter unauthorized access;

• (g) the locking of, or the prevention in some other way of access to, unattended spaces that adjoin areas to which passengers and visitors have access;

• (h) the provision of a designated secure area on board or, in liaison with a marine facility, at a marine facility, for conducting the authorized screening of persons and goods;

• (i) the authorized screening of vessel personnel or their goods by other vessel personnel, if it is clearly required for security reasons;

• (j) the segregation of persons who and their goods that have been through authorized screening from other persons and their goods;

• (k) the segregation of embarking passengers from disembarking passengers;

• (l) the authorized screening before loading, at the frequency specified in the vessel security plan and in liaison with a marine facility, of a defined percentage of vehicles to be loaded aboard a passenger vessel;

• (m) the authorized screening before loading, in liaison with a marine facility, of all unaccompanied vehicles to be loaded on a passenger vessel; and

• (n) a response to the presence of unauthorized persons on board, including the expulsion of unauthorized boarders.

238. At MARSEC level 2, additional security procedures for access control shall be established in the vessel security plan, to the extent that they are appropriate to the vessel’s operations, including

• (a) an increase in the frequency and detail of the authorized screening of persons and goods;

• (b) the authorized screening of all unaccompanied baggage by means of X-ray equipment;

• (c) the assignment of additional personnel to patrol deck areas during periods of reduced vessel operations to deter unauthorized access;

• (d) a reduction in the number of access points to the vessel;

• (e) the denial of access to visitors who do not have a verified destination;

• (f) the deterrence of waterside access to the vessel, which may include, in liaison with a marine facility or a port administration, providing boat patrols; and

• (g) if the vessel is at a marine facility, the establishment of a restricted area on the shoreside of the vessel, in close cooperation with the facility.