46 U.S.C. App.  289; coastwise trade; passengers; employeesof cruise ship

HQ 114336 May 27, 1998 VES-3-02/07-RR:IT:EC 114336 CC CATEGORY: Carriers Dag Toemmervik Premier Cruises 901 South America Way Miami, FL 33132-2073 RE: 46 U.S.C. App.  289; coastwise trade; passengers; employees of cruise ship Dear Mr. Toemmervik: This is in response to your letter of April 8, 1998, and your follow-up submission of May 21, 1998, concerning the voyage of the vessel SeaBreeze. FACTS: You state that the foreign-flag vessel, the SeaBreeze, will be departing from Miami, Florida on May 31, 1998, and will arrive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1998. Premier Cruises wishes to hold a corporate seminar during this voyage for approximately 80 to 85 sales and marketing employees. You have provided a list of the employees who are planning to attend the seminar, along with a proposed agenda for the seminar. ISSUE: Whether the transportation of the cruise ship employees on a foreign-flag vessel as described above constitutes a violation of 46 U.S.C. App.  289. LAW AND ANALYSIS: 46 U.S.C. App.  289, the passenger coastwise law, provides that "[n]o foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed." Pursuant to 19 CFR  4.80a and  4.50, the term passenger, for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289, is defined as "any person carried on a vessel who is not connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or business." We have held that sales and marketing employees of a cruise ship that are transported on its vessel for conferences or seminars are not passengers for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289 because they are sufficiently connected with the business of the vessel. See, e.g., Headquarters Ruling (HQ) 109685 of November 3, 1988, and HQ 112601 of June 17, 1993. Similarly, we find the sales and marketing employees of the SeaBreeze are not passengers for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289 because they are sufficiently connected with the business of the vessel. HOLDING: The subject employees of the cruise ship are not passengers for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289, and, thus, the transport of those employees would not constitute a violation of the passenger coastwise law. Sincerely, Jerry Laderberg Chief Entry Procedures and Carriers Branch