Rio, January 7, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The arrival of the ocean liner "Amsterdam" in the port of Rio led the Federal Police (PF) to reforce its contingent of Marine Department officers who handle passport control. The ship, which sails under a Dutch flag, anchored at around 7:30 A.M., with 990 tourists on board, of whom 600 are American.

Ten officers were designated to speed up the process of identifying the American passengers, who have to be photographed and fingerprinted, in compliance with an order issued by the Brazilian Judiciary. The first American tourists left the terminal just before 10 A.M., nearly an hour after passengers of other nationalities were authorized to go. (DAS)