Coastwise Trade; Foreign-built Vessel; Submarines; navigation instruction; 46 U.S.C. App. § 289

HQ 115075 JUNE 19, 2000 VES-3-19 RR:IT:EC115075 RSD CATEGORY: CARRIERS Mr. Gregory Kokes The Kokes Organization P.O. Box D Whiting, New Jersey 08759 RE: Coastwise Trade; Foreign-built Vessel; Submarines; navigation instruction; 46 U.S.C. App. § 289 Dear Kokes: This is in response to your letter dated June 13, 2000, regarding your proposed use of a foreign built submarine for use in the instruction in the navigation and operation of submarines. Our ruling in this matter is set forth below. FACTS: You state that you are a U.S. citizen who intends to purchase a small 6-person German manufactured submarine, and import it to the United States. After the vessel is imported into the United States, you wish to use the submarine for a school to educate the public on the workings, design, and navigation of submarines. The craft will operate only within US waters, just a few miles offshore, and then return with the students. The majority of class time at the school will be spent on land, in a classroom. At the end of the class, the students will be taken on board the submarine to experience the basics of submarine travel. The school’s first course will be a basic introduction course and will not be designed to certify the students. However, the second course will be for advanced students and can be used to certify the participants to U.S. Coast Guard specifications. You indicate that the submarine is a unique vessel, because it allows for a cost-effective approach to teach submarine technologies that are not presently available domestically. You state that it will comply with the U.S. Coast Guard safety requirements. ISSUE: Whether the use of a foreign-made submarine for navigational submarine instruction violates 46 U.S.C. App. § 289. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Title 46, United States Code Appendix, Section 289 (46 U.S.C. App. § 289, the passenger coastwise law), prohibits the transportation of passengers between points embraced within the coastwise laws of the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, in any vessel other than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States. For purposes of Section 289, “passenger” is defined as “... any person carried on a vessel that is not connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or business.” 19 C.F.R. §4.50(b). The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the territorial sea, defined as the belt, three nautical miles wide, seaward of the territorial sea baseline, and to points located in internal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline, in cases where the baseline and the coastline differ. In our interpretation of 46 U.S.C. App. § 289, Customs has long-held that a person transported on a vessel as a student in bona fide instructional courses in oceanography, sailing and navigation/seamanship, and marine history and science, when the presence of that person is required on board the vessel as a part of his or her course or training, is not a passenger for purposes of the coastwise laws (Customs ruling letters 108166, dated February 27, 1986, and 114263, dated March 3, 1998). This is so regardless of whether a fee is charged for the aforementioned instruction. Accordingly, the use of a German made submarine which will be used solely to instruct students in the navigation and operation of submarines would not violate the U.S. coastwise laws. HOLDING: The use of a German made submarine for the instruction in the operation and navigation of in submarines does not violate 46 U.S.C. App. § 289. Sincerely, Acting Chief, Entry Procedures and Carriers Branch