Coastwise Transportation; 46 U.S.C. § 55103; 19 CFR 4.50(b)

HQ H087356 December 10, 2009 VES-3-02:OT:RR:BSTC:CCI H087356 ALS CATEGORY: Carriers Mr. Richard Moylan Vessel Manager Maersk Line, Limited One Commercial Place, 20th Floor Norfolk, Virginia 23510 RE: Coastwise Transportation; 46 U.S.C. § 55103; 19 CFR 4.50(b) Dear Mr. Moylan: This letter is in response to your request of December 9, 2009, with respect to the coastwise transportation of eight individuals. Our ruling is set forth below. FACTS: You ask whether the individuals may be transported on the non-coastwise qualified MAERSK IOWA ("vessel"), from Newark, New Jersey on December 7, 2009, and back to Newark on December 12, 2009, with intervening stops in Charleston, South Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia. The individuals will remain aboard at all times, will not go ashore in either Charleston or Norfolk, and will disembark in Newark. The individuals will be onboard to overhaul a diesel generator. ISSUE: Whether the use of a non-coastwise-qualified vessel for the transportation of the subject individual in the voyage as described above, constitutes an engagement in coastwise trade in violation of 46 U.S.C. § 55103.LAW AND ANALYSIS: Generally, the coastwise laws prohibit the transportation of passengers or merchandise between points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws in any vessel other than a vessel built in, documented under the laws of, and owned by citizens of the United States. Such a vessel, after it has obtained a coastwise endorsement from the U.S. Coast Guard, is said to be "coastwise qualified." The coastwise law applicable to the carriage of passengers is found in 46 U.S.C. § 55103 (recodified by Pub. L. 109-304, enacted on October 6, 2006) and provides that no foreign vessel shall transport passengers "between ports or places in the United States to which the coastwise laws apply, either directly or via a foreign port," under a penalty of $300 for each passenger so transported. See also 19 CFR 4.80(b)(2). The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the territorial sea, which is 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. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") Regulations promulgated pursuant to 46 U.S.C. § 55103 are found at 19 CFR 4.80a. These regulations provide guidelines for determining whether the movement of passengers between two coastwise points is considered coastwise trade. The term "embark" is defined as a "passenger boarding a vessel for the duration of a specific voyage." See 19 CFR 4.80a(a)(4). A passenger "disembarks" from the vessel if the passenger "finally and permanently" leaves the vessel at the conclusion of the specific voyage. See CBP Ruling HQ 112208 (June 29, 1992). In its administration of 46 U.S.C. § 55103, CBP has ruled that the carriage of passengers that begins and ends at the same coastwise point, assuming the passengers do not go ashore, even temporarily, at another coastwise point is not considered coastwise trade. See, e.g., CBP Ruling HQ H045338 (November 26, 2008). In the present case, the contemplated voyage begins at Newark and ends at Newark. The vessel makes intervening stops at Charleston and Norfolk, but you have informed this office that the subject individuals do not go ashore or disembark during those stops, but rather will remain aboard at all times and return with the vessel to the point of embarkation in Newark, where the individuals will disembark. Accordingly, 46 U.S.C. § 55103 is inapplicable to the subject voyage, and there is no violation of the coastwise statute.HOLDING: The use of a non-coastwise-qualified vessel in the proposed voyage described above does not constitute an engagement in the coastwise trade in violation of 46 U.S.C. § 55103.Sincerely, Glen E. Vereb Chief Cargo Security, Carriers and Immigration Branch