USA

Philadelphia has "zero tolerance" on 96 hour rule

The US Coast Guard at Philadelphia is exercising "zero tolerance" regarding the 96 hours notice of arrival rule and no exceptions will be made for ships that do not file the required 96 hour Advance Notice of Arrival on time.

The only tolerance will be in cases where it can be demonstrated that the US Coast Guard was at fault and that proper notification had indeed been made.

It has been noted that many ships wait until right before the 96 hours and then send in the Advance Notice of Arrival. However, this allows no room for error in case of faulty transmission or for incomplete information.

The U.S. Coast Guard requirement states that the Advance Notice of Arrival must be filed AT LEAST 96 hours in advance.

Ship masters are therefore urged to file the Advance Notice of Arrival as soon as they depart from the load or last port, even if the information contained within is incomplete at the time of the initial filing.

The Advance Notice of Arrival allows for Arrival/Departure Updates and this should be used to update the voyage information while in route.

Prior to 1st July 2004, the US Coast Guard on a local level were more tolerant and in many cases would permit a vessel entry into the port even if the ship filed a late or incomplete Advance Notice of Arrival. This will not happen in the future. No exceptions will be made.