RE: Coastwise Transportation; Outer Continental Shelf; Wells; Pristine Seabed; 46 U.S.C. § 55102; 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b

HQ H360021 September 21, 2026 OT:RR:BSTC:CCR H360021 CBC CATEGORY: Carriers Stephen McGuire Subsea 7 (US) LLC 17220 Katy Freeway, Suite 100 Houston, Texas 77094 VIA EMAIL: stephen.mcguire@subsea7.com RE: Coastwise Transportation; Outer Continental Shelf; Wells; Pristine Seabed; 46 U.S.C. § 55102; 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b Dear Mr. McGuire: This is in response to your October 13, 2025, request for a ruling pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 177.2 on behalf of Subsea 7 (US) LLC (“Subsea 7”) regarding whether the transportation of mooring components to pre-installed mooring piles located on the outer continental shelf 1 Our decision follows. (“OCS”), as described below, would violate the coastwise laws. FACTS: The following facts are from your ruling request. Subsea 7 will load twelve mooring lines onto a foreign-flag installation vessel (“FFIV”) at a U.S. port for transportation to the oil and gas lease block designated as [ ]. Each mooring line will con- sist of a subsea mooring connector (“SMC”), a bottom chain segment, a lower polyester rope segment, a connecting chain segment, an upper polyester rope segment, a tensioner connecting chain segment, an in-line mooring tensioner (“ILMT”), a tensioner adjustment chain segment, 1 You have asked this office for confidential treatment of specific information relating to the project site location. If this office receives a Freedom of Information Act request for your submission, CBP Regulations (See 19 C.F.R. § 177.2, et seq.) regarding the disclosure of business information provide that the submitter of business information will be advised of receipt of a request for such information whenever the business submitter has in good faith desig- nated the information as commercially or financially sensitive information. We accept your request for confidential treatment as a good faith request. and various rigging and ancillaries. The mooring line installation process is described as fol- lows: Once at the location on [ ] , the paying out of each mooring line will occur as follows: Subsea 7 will connect the SMC to the bottom chain while on board the FFIV. The SMC and the bottom chain will be paid out from FFIV chain lockers through the onboard lay system over the stern roller. Once the SMC and bottom chain are paid out, Subsea 7 will connect the lower polyester segment to the end of the bottom chain. Subsea 7 will continue to pay out the lower polyester segment over the FFIV’s stern roller. Following the paying out of the lower polyester, Subsea 7 will attach the upper polyester segment and continue lay out operations. Subsea 7 will continue to pay out the mooring line until it connects the SMC to the pre-installed mooring pile. Once the SMC is connected, the FFIV will pay out the mooring line along the pre-determined lay route. Subsea 7 will connect the tensioner connecting chain segment, ILMT, tensioner adjustment chain segment and related ancillaries to the upper polyester segment. Once the entire mooring line is assembled, it will be laid down along the pre-determined lay route and within the pre-determined lay toler- 2 ances required. No information was provided regarding whether the FFIV will be in contact with the sea- bed upon arrival at [ ], or whether seabed devices other than the pre-installed mooring piles have been installed at [ ]. We assume for the purposes of this request that the FFIV will not be in contact with the seabed and that no other seabed devices other than the pre-in- stalled mooring piles have been installed for natural resource exploration or development at [ ]. ISSUE: Whether the transportation of the mooring lines by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel as described above violates the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 55102. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Generally, the coastwise laws prohibit the transportation of 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 certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement from the U.S. Coast Guard, is said to be “coastwise qualified.” 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 in- 3 In addition, Section 4(a)(1) of the Outer ternal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline. 2 Request for Ruling Letter, dated Oct. 13, 2025, at pp. 1–2. 3 33 C.F.R. § 2.22(a)(2). 2 Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 (“OCSLA”), as amended, provides that the Constitution and laws and civil and political jurisdiction of the United States are extended to: (i) the subsoil and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf; (ii) all artificial islands on the outer Continental Shelf; (iii) installations and other devices permanently or temporar- ily attached to the seabed, which may be erected thereon for the purpose of exploring for, developing, or producing resources, in- cluding non-mineral energy resources; or (iv) any such installation or other device (other than a ship or vessel) for the purpose of transporting or transmitting such re- 4 sources. Section 203 of the OCSLA Amendments of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-372, § 203, 92 Stat. 629, 635) (1978 Amendments), amended section 4(a) of the OCSLA by substituting “and all installa- tions and other devices permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed” for “and fixed struc- tures.” The legislative history states the purpose of this change was to make it clear “that Federal law is to be applicable to all activities on all devices in contact with the seabed for exploration, development, and production.” Thus, Federal law was intended “to be applicable to activities on drilling ships, semisubmersible drilling rigs, and other watercraft, when they are connected to the seabed by drillstring, pipes, or other appurtenances, on the OCS for exploration, development, or 5 production purposes.” The coastwise law applicable to the transportation of merchandise, often referred to as 6 and provides in pertinent part: “the Jones Act,” is found at 46 U.S.C. § 55102, (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or chapter 121 of this title, a vessel may not provide any part of the transportation of merchandise by water, or by land and water, between points in the United States to which the coastwise laws apply, either directly or via a foreign port, unless the vessel— (1) is wholly owned by citizens of the United States for purposes of engaging in the coastwise trade; and (2) has been issued a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement under chapter 121 or is exempt from documentation but would otherwise be eligible for such a certificate and endorsement. The Jones Act only partially defines the term “merchandise,” setting forth that merchan- dise “includes … merchandise owned by the United States Government, a State, or a subdivision 7 CBP also defines the term “merchandise” in 19 U.S.C. § of a State” and “valueless material.” 1401(c) as “goods, wares, and chattels of every description, and includes merchandise the impor- tation of which is prohibited, and monetary instruments as defined in section 5312 of Title 31.” 4 43 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(1). 5 H.R. REP. NO. 95-590, at 128 (1978), as reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1450, 1534. 6 Formerly 46 U.S.C. App. § 883. See Pub. L. 109-304, 120 Stat. 1485, 1632 (Oct. 6, 2006). 7 See 46 U.S.C. § 55102(a). 3 Accordingly, it is our position that the mooring components, including the SMC, rope segments, chain segments, tensioner, tensioner adjustment chain segment, and various rigging and ancillar- ies, etc., constitute merchandise for Jones Act purposes. The Jones Act specifically prohibits the coastwise transportation of “merchandise” be- tween coastwise points by non-coastwise-qualified vessels. To determine if the proposed trans- portation occurs between coastwise points, we examine the points at which the materials (SMC, chain and rope segments, etc.) will be laden and unladen. The United States’ exercise of sover- eignty on the OCS is measured by the acts of Congress extending jurisdiction for specified pur- poses. Regarding the points between which merchandise is transported for Jones Act purposes, CBP interprets the OCSLA to provide CBP jurisdiction where there is an installation or device attached to the seabed serving a purpose as articulated in the OCSLA—the exploration for, or de- velopment, production, transmission, or transportation of resources. CBP has long held that an installation or device attached to the seabed of the OCS for a purpose articulated by the OCSLA creates a coastwise point. T.D. 54281(1) (Jan. 9, 1957). Furthermore, CBP recognizes that the OCSLA contemplates construction activity to be part of the development of resources, such that an installation or structure need not be completed to be embraced by the OCSLA’s jurisdictional 8 reach. See 43 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(1). In the transaction described above, the mooring lines are to be loaded aboard a non-coast- wise-qualified vessel at a U.S. port and transported to the [ ] lease block on the Outer Con- tinental Shelf where mooring piles will have already been installed. Title 46 United States Code § 55101, supplies the geographic reach of the coastwise laws, providing: N GENERAL.— (a) I Except as provided in subsection (b), the coastwise laws apply to the United States, including the island territories and possessions of the United States. (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The coastwise laws do not apply to— (1) American Samoa; (2) the Northern Mariana Islands, except as provided in section 502(b) of the Covenant To Establish a Common- wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union With the United States of America (48 U.S.C. 1801 note); or (3) the Virgin Islands until the President declares by proclamation that the coastwise laws apply to the Virgin Is- lands. 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 in- 9 19 CFR § 4.80b provides, in pertinent ternal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline. part: “A coastwise transportation of merchandise takes place, within the meaning of the coast- wise laws, when merchandise laden at a point embraced within the coastwise laws (‘coastwise 8 See also HQ H265370 (Sept. 3, 2015) (“The laying of pipes, in addition to the construction of platforms and wells on the OCS, evidences exploration, development, and production of resources from the OCS.”). 9 See 33 C.F.R. § 2.22(a)(2). 4 point’) is unladen at another coastwise point.” This includes all points within U.S. territorial wa- ters (i.e., landward points within three nautical miles of the territorial baseline) as well as limited extension to those points on the OCS that are captured by the jurisdictional provisions of the OCSLA. While your client’s request is silent as to the particular U.S. port at which the mooring lines will be laden, it is our position that any port located in the Continental United States and Puerto Rico is a coastwise point to which the coastwise laws apply. Unlike U.S. territorial waters, however, the extent of U.S. jurisdiction on the OCS is lim- ited. In its application of the Jones Act, CBP interprets the OCSLA to provide CBP jurisdiction where there is an installation or device attached to the seabed serving a purpose as articulated in the OCSLA—the exploration for, development, production, transmission, or transportation of re- sources. 43 U.S.C. § 1333(a)(1). As such, the matter hinges on whether the items at issue are transported to a coastwise point, and pursuant to CBP regulations, the agency views the coast- wise transportation of merchandise to take place when said merchandise is laden at one coast- wise point and unladen at another coastwise point. See 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b(a). A. The Pre-Installed Mooring Piles are Coastwise Points. While the U.S. port constitutes a coastwise point, the pristine seabed of the OCS does not constitute a coastwise point until, as noted above, some “installation or device” is temporarily or permanently affixed to the OCS for the purposes of exploration for, or development, production, transmission, or transportation of resources. While your client’s ruling request is silent as to the exact function of the pre-installed mooring piles located on the outer continental shelf, since the 10 we assume arguendo that their pur- location is characterized as an “oil and gas lease block,” pose is exploring for, developing, or producing resources as contemplated by the OCSLA. The pre-installed mooring piles which are the subject of your request are analogous to an- chors and mooring systems for offshore oil rigs, which CBP has previously determined to be coastwise points. For example, Customs has ruled that an “installation site on the OCS at which there are foundation templates, piles, a mooring system, and temporarily abandoned wells which are to be used for future production of oil and gas would be considered a coastwise point.” C.S.D. 89-115, 23 Cust. B. & Dec. 838 (July 14, 1989). Accordingly, the superstructure required a coastwise-qualified tow. Id. Coastwise-qualified transportation is likewise required to bring mooring lines to the pre-installed piles at [ ]. And in HQ 110959 (Aug. 8, 1990), CBP considered whether a lateral mooring system (“LMS”) intended for use with a tension leg platform (“TLP”) creates a coastwise point. While CBP carefully explained that the associated marker buoy alone was not a coastwise point in the context of transportation “unrelated to the subject activity,” and that the LMS could be installed by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel insofar as there was “nothing on the seabed at the LMS site . . . during the installation of the marker buoys,” the LMS became a coastwise point at “the time of attachment.” Id. “Once a coastwise point is established (see above) the transportation of the components of the LMS as described would be a coastwise transportation violative of 46 U.S.C.” § 55102. Id. This is dispositive as Subsea 7 requests to unlade merchandise (mooring lines) 10 Request for Ruling Letter, at p. 1. 5 onto just such an anchored installation or other device (the mooring piles) for an OCSLA pur- pose. Further, in HQ 113412 (June 22, 1995), CBP ruled that “a pre-installed mooring system consisting of twelve 26-ton drag embedment anchors connected to wire ropes as well as anchor chains and buoys,” inter alia, comprised a coastwise point, and thus a qualified tow was required to bring the floating production system (“FPS”) to the mooring system. The pre-installed moor- ing piles at [ ], likewise erected for an OCSLA purpose, accordingly constitute coastwise points for the purposes of transporting merchandise to be attached thereto. Also, in HQ 116350 (Jan. 18, 2005), CBP considered “a fairly recent advance in technol- ogy that is increasingly used in mooring and unmooring floating deepwater drilling/production facilities on the United States Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico.” Such a collection of “suction pile anchors installed at a site constitutes a complete anchoring (mooring) system.” Id. Again, CBP found that transportation of the FPS to the “suction pile anchor and mooring assembly” required a coastwise-qualified vessel. The mooring piles described above are coastwise points for the same reason. Once again in HQ H015078 (Nov. 7, 2007), CBP ruled on “risers, which w[ould] be the anchoring point on the ocean floor for the attachment of the drilling platform to be added at a later date. Five risers w[ould] be permanently attached to the sea floor, which w[ould] perma- nently anchor the platform to the seabed.” In the requested operation, a temporary “buoyancy can w[ould] be attached with a chain to each of the five risers.” Differentiating arguments that marker buoys were not coastwise points in other contexts, CBP concluded that “risers [that] are permanently attached to the seabed of the OCS for the purpose of resource exploration, develop- ment or production . . . would be considered coastwise points pursuant to the OCSLA. As a re- sult, the buoyancy cans that would be attached to the risers would also be considered coastwise points to which the coastwise laws apply. . . . [S]uch buoys must also be transported via a coast- wise-qualified vessel . . . to their respective riser installation sites.” Id. It follows that transport- ing the mooring lines at issue to the pre-installed piles required a coastwise-qualified vessel. Furthermore, CBP’s well-established position regarding marine construction is that com- mencement of construction activities for an OCSLA purpose at the pristine seabed establishes the coastwise point. For example, in HQ H317289 (March 25, 2021) (modifying H309186 (Jan. 27, 2021)), we explained that “a coastwise point under 46 U.S.C. § 55102 will be created when the first layer of scour protection material is placed on the seabed.” See HQ H300962 (April 14, 2022) (“[T]he use of such a vessel to install scour protection on top of an existing layer of scour protection on the OCS would be in violation of the Jones Act because such a location constitutes a coastwise point.”); HQ H318758 (Jun. 6, 2022) (application of the “first” layer of scour protec- tion “(whether completed at that time or not) established a coastwise point.”). The construction of an installation is a multi-step process, but we have never required one to be “engaging or ca- pable of engaging in exploration operations at the time it was ruled to be a point in the United States for purposes of the coastwise laws.” C.S.D. 83-94, 17 Cust. B. & Dec. 926 (May 13, 1983). The installation of a mooring pile is a preparatory step in a process of marine construc- tion. 6 Moreover, when addressing marine construction, in which the installation of mooring piles is clearly one distinct portion of the construction process, CBP previously has analyzed the status of structures constituting partially completed maritime infrastructure as coastwise points. Notably, a variety of long-standing and unchallenged rulings addressing the development of oil drilling platforms makes CBP’s position clear. Specifically, the completion of the first stage of a complex or multi-stage construction process resulting in the creation of a section or segment of a larger structure, in this instance a mooring pile, results in the creation of a coastwise point. For example, in HQ 106528 (Dec. 14, 1983), where the transportation of an oil platform jacket was at issue, Customs described the installation site where a “templet and casing” were attached to the seabed as a coastwise point. Later, in HQ 107622 (May 30, 1985), again address- ing the proposed transportation of a platform jacket, the installation site where a subsea wellhead was already in place was also deemed a coastwise point. In both of these rulings, the initial in- stallation of a device attached to the seabed for the purpose of exploring for, developing, or pro- ducing resources was determined to be the act required to establish a coastwise point, not the completion of an oil platform. Other instructive rulings in the instant matter are HQ 106974 (Aug. 24, 1984) and HQ 107602 (May 10, 1985). In H106974, Customs ruled that “once the jacket for the [oil] platform is installed at a location on the outer continental shelf it becomes a domestic point pursuant to section 4(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (citation omitted) without regard to whether or not the installation is in one continuous operation.” Further explicating its position, in H107602 Customs stated that “a platform jacket affixed to the OCS for the purpose of explor- ing for, developing, or producing resources therefrom is a coastwise point and that tran