VZCZCXRO2858
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0944/01 2710920
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280920Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8830
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RHMFIUU/COGARD MIO EUROPE ROTTERDAM NL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCOCGA/COMLANTAREA COGARD PORTSMOUTH VA
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0983

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000944 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID EINV ETRD EWWT PGOV BN
SUBJECT: BENIN U.S. COAST GUARD ISPS COMPLIANCE TEAM VISIT CONCERNED 
ABOUT PORT OF COTONOU 
 
REF: COTONOU 744 and previous 
 
COTONOU 00000944  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A four-man US Coast Guard delegation led by Mr. 
Peyton Coleman visited Benin August 27-30, 2006 to assess the Port 
of Cotonou's security and compliance with the International Shipping 
and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The team's unofficial 
findings are that the Port of Cotonou is currently not in 
substantial compliance with ISPS standards. In addition to meeting 
with the Minister of Transportation, the team and embassy personnel 
met with officials of the Port of Cotonou (Port Autonome de Cotonou 
- PAC) and the Ministry of Transportation's Department of the 
Merchant Marine, which is charged with ISPS implementation.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
 
Meetings with Minister, ISPS/Port Officials and Site Visit 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The team met with a number of GOB ISPS and PAC officials, 
and had a frank and open dialogue with GOB interlocutors. Minister 
of Transportation, Mr. Alexandre Dossou commended the USCG's visit 
as consistent with President Yayi's ambitious plans to make the Port 
of Cotonou the most competitive port in West Africa. Dossou said 
this goal cannot be achieved without proper security measures at 
port facilities and underlined the GOB's commitment to emphasizing 
improved security. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The port's Director General, Mr. Christophe Aguessy, and 
the Director of the Merchant Marine, Ms. Rahanatou Anki Dossou, 
briefed the team on Benin's achievements since the ISPS code has 
come into force. There have been a number of training sessions for 
port stakeholders and personnel, an increase in the height of the 
port's fences, efforts to improve access control to the port, 
training of 25 security agents in Antwerp and Marseille, and the 
selection of a Canadian consulting firm to develop security, improve 
lighting, and construct a guard tower. 
 
¶4. (SBU) After a good round of meetings with GOB and port officials, 
the USCG team toured the port and found the situation on the ground 
fell well short of both their expectations and ISPS standards. The 
port is congested with trucks and little to no effort is being made 
to restrict access to the port or otherwise mandate use of badges or 
other forms of identification.  Signage regarding security 
conditions and access procedures is inadequate, the trees alongside 
the port's fences pose an access risk, and the port holds no drills 
nor security exercises on a regular basis. 
 
¶5. (SBU) During the USCG team's visit, the port issued new 
regulations to ease vehicle congestion within the port and to better 
control landside access to the port by both vehicles and 
individuals. The new measures, which went into effect on September 
16, require trucks to spend no more than 48 hours at the port or pay 
a fine of USD 970 (CFA 500,000) a day. All authorized port visitors 
and persons employed at the port will be required to wear badges and 
armbands or be denied access. Among the challenges the port faces at 
present is financing the acquisition of radio, firefighting and 
pollution control equipment, surveillance cameras, and other 
high-tech equipment (Comment: Some of this equipment will be 
provided by MCC funding under MCC's "Access to Markets" project, 
worth nearly $170 million over five years, which is focused on the 
port). 
 
USCG's findings and recommendations 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Through question and answer sessions with the Port 
Authority, Merchant Marine officials, the COMAN (MAERSK) terminal 
manager, the Benin shippers association, and a site visit to the 
port facilities, the USCG team has concluded that the Cotonou Port 
Authority does not meet the minimum requirements of the ISPS code. 
One glaring oversight was that the terminal manager COMAN (MAERSK) 
was unaware there was a unified security plan for the port. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The team did note some strong points in port security 
practices, including separation of public fishing and commercial 
port activities, segregation of the oil and LPG terminals from other 
port facilities, and port officials' efforts (even if lacking) to 
provide information and training about the ISPS code to port 
stakeholders. The team invited the GOB/port officials it met to make 
a reciprocal visit to a port in the U.S. to learn more about 
American experiences in port security. (Comment: Senior PAC staff 
visited the Port of Baltimore in February 2006 with MCC officials.) 
 
COTONOU 00000944  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Port Director Aguessey was sobered by the USCG team's 
assessment of Cotonou's security standards.  He said he looked 
forward to receiving the final conclusions of the USCG's findings in 
order to be more familiar with the Port's security flaws and to 
prepare corrective actions. 
 
BROWN