Coastwise trade; Passenger transportation; 46 U.S.C. App. 289

HQ 111302 March 4, 1991 VES-3-CO:R:IT:C 111302 LLB CATEGORY: Carriers Mr. Jacob van Hekke Assistant Transportation Attache Royal Netherlands Embassy 4200 Linnean Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 RE: Coastwise trade; Passenger transportation; 46 U.S.C. App. 289 Dear Mr. van Hekke: Reference is made to your letter of July 23, 1990, with attachment, which you sent to the U.S. Maritime Administration and which was forwarded to the U.S. Customs Service for reply. Your letter asks several questions about potential passenger transportation itineraries within the United States. FACTS: A Dutch shipbuilding company has asked several questions concerning the scope of the passenger transportation statute. It is asked whether the coastwise transportation statute would prohibit: - a vessel sailing within the confines of a single port (like a bus) to take on and discharge passengers at various points. - a vessel sailing to link several municipalities within a single state, all under the jurisdiction of one transportation authority; - a vessel sailing to link several municipalities which may be located in more than one state, all under the jurisdiction of one regional transportation authority. ISSUE: Whether the coastwise transportation passenger statute prohibits the transportation of passengers on unqualified vessels between U.S. points located within a single harbor, within a single state, and/or in different states. LAW AND ANALYSIS: The coastwise passenger transportation statute, codified in section 289 of title 46, United States Code Appendix (46 U.S.C. App. 289), as interpreted in concert with the coastwise laws generally (46 U.S.C. App. 883, and 46 U.S.C. 12106 and 12110), prohibits the transportation of passengers between coastwise points on vessels not properly admitted to that service. The statute is triggered when passengers embark at one coastwise point and disembark (terminate their voyage) at another. The coastwise transportation passenger statute is strictly construed to include even movements within the same harbor, and the fact that the various coastwise points to which movement is contemplated may be under the authority of a single local or regional transportation authority is of no relevance. Given any of the three proposed itineraries, a violation would have occurred when a passenger taken aboard at one point in the United States is disembarked at another such point. HOLDING: A non-coastwise-qualified vessel may not be legally utilized to transport passengers between coastwise points, whether those points are in the same harbor, the same state, or otherwise, and regardless of whether those points may be under the jurisdiction of a single transportation authority. Sincerely, B. James Fritz Chief Carrier Rulings Branch