IIA

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H.R. 58

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 20 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Received

NOVEMBER 23, 1993

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to convey vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet to certain

nonprofit organizations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Merchant Marine Me5 morial Enhancement Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE VESSELS.

7 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—The Secretary of

8 Transportation may convey without consideration all

9 right, title, and interest of the United States in 2 vessels

10 described in subsection (b) to any nonprofit organization
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1 which operates and maintains a Liberty Ship or Victory

2 Ship as a memorial to merchant mariners.

3 (b) VESSELS DESCRIBED.—Vessels which may be

4 conveyed under subsection (a) are vessels which—

5 (1) are in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

6 on the date of the enactment of this Act;

7 (2) are not less than 4,000 displacement tons;

8 (3) have no usefulness to the Government; and

9 (4) are scheduled to be scrapped.

10 (c) CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of

11 conveying any vessel to an organization under subsection

12 (a), the Secretary shall require that before the date of the

13 conveyance the organization enter into an agreement

14 under which the organization shall—

15 (1) sell the vessel for scrap purposes;

16 (2) use the proceeds of that scrapping for the

17 purpose of refurbishing and making seaworthy a

18 Liberty Ship or Victory Ship which the organization

19 maintains as a memorial to merchant mariners, to

20 enable the ship to participate in 1994 in commemo21 rative activities in conjunction with the 50th anni22 versary of the Normandy invasion; and

23 (3) return to the United States any proceeds of

24 scrapping carried out pursuant to paragraph (1)
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1 which are not used in accordance with paragraph

2 (2).

3 (d) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS RETURNED.—Amounts

4 returned to the United States pursuant to subsection

5 (c)(3) shall be deposited in the Vessel Operations Revolv6 ing Fund created by the Act of June 2, 1951 (65 Stat.

7 59; 46 App. U.S.C. 1241a).

8 (e) DELIVERY OF VESSELS.—The Secretary shall de9 liver each vessel conveyed under this section—

10 (1) at the place where the vessel is located on

11 the date of the approval of the conveyance by the

12 Secretary;

13 (2) in its condition on that date; and

14 (3) without cost to the Government.

15 (f) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—The

16 authority of the Secretary under this section to convey ves17 sels shall expire on the date that is 2 years after the date

18 of the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 3. DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS.

20 (a) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma21 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Act of June

22 19, 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and section 12106 of title

23 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation

24 may issue certificates of documentation with a coastwise

25 endorsement for the following vessels:
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1 (1) ABORIGINAL (United States official num2 ber 942118).

3 (2) AFTERSAIL (United States official num4 ber 689427).

5 (3) ALEXANDRIA (United States official

6 number 586490).

7 (4) AMANDA (Michigan registration number

8 MC–1125–FR).

9 (5) ARBITRAGE II (United States official

10 number 962861).

11 (6) ARIEL (United States official number

12 954762).

13 (7) BRANDARIS (former United States official

14 number 263174).

15 (8) COMPASS ROSE (United States official

16 number 695865).

17 (9) DIXIE (United States official number

18 513159).

19 (10) ELISSA (United States official number

20 697285).

21 (11) EMERALD PRINCESS (former United

22 States official number 530095).

23 (12) ENTERPRISE (United States official

24 number 692956).
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1 (13) EUROPA STAR (former United States

2 official number 588270).

3 (14) EUROPA SUN (former United States of4 ficial number 596656).

5 (15) GAZELA OF PHILADELPHIA

6 (Pennyslvania registration number PA–4339–AF).

7 (16) GRAY (Connecticut registration number

8 CT–5944–AJ).

9 (17) GRIZZLY PROCESSOR (Canadian offi10 cial number 369183).

11 (18) GUSTO (United States official number

12 624951).

13 (19) GYPSY COWBOY (United States official

14 number 550771).

15 (20) IMPATIENT LADY (United States offi16 cial number 553952).

17 (21) ISLAND GIRL (United States official

18 number 674840).

19 (22) JULIET (Michigan registration number

20 MC–1669–LM).

21 (23) KALENA (Hawaii registration number

22 HA–1923–E).

23 (24) LAURISA (United States official number

24 924052).
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1 (25) LIBBY ROSE (United States official

2 number 236976).

3 (26) LISERON (United States official number

4 971339).

5 (27) MARINE STAR (United States official

6 number 248329).

7 (28) MARINER (United States official number

8 285452).

9 (29) MARY B (Kentucky registration number

10 KY–0098–HX).

11 (30) MOONSHINE (United States official

12 number 974226).

13 (31) MYSTIQUE (United States official num14 ber 921194).

15 (32) NORTHERN LIGHT (United States offi16 cial number 237510).

17 (33) PAI NUI (Hawaii registration number

18 HA–6949–D).

19 (34) PANDACEA (United States official num20 ber 665892).

21 (35) PELICAN (United States official number

22 234959).

23 (36) PLAY PRETTY (United States official

24 number 975346).
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1 (37) PRINCE OF TIDES II (United States of2 ficial number 903858).

3 (38) RBOAT (United States official number

4 563955).

5 (39) SABLE (Massachusetts registration num6 ber MS–1841–AM).

7 (40) SERENA (United States official number

8 965317).

9 (41) SHILOH (United States official number

10 902675).

11 (42) SIDEWINDER (United States official

12 number 991719).

13 (43) SWELL DANCER (United States official

14 number 622046).

15 (44) TESSA (United States official number

16 675130).

17 (45) TOP DUCK (United States official num18 ber 990973).

19 (46) VIKING (United States official number

20 286080).

21 (47) WHIT CON TIKI (United States official

22 number 663823).

23 (b) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma24 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) or any other law

25 restricting a foreign-flag vessel from operating in the
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1 coastwise trade, the foreign-flag vessel H851 may engage

2 in the coastwise trade to transport an offshore drilling

3 platform jacket from a place near Aransas Pass, Texas,

4 to a site on the Outer Continental Shelf known as Viosca

5 Knoll 989.

6 (c) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma7 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Act of June

8 19, 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and sections 12106 and

9 12107 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of

10 Transportation may issue certificates of documentation

11 with a coastwise and Great Lakes endorsement for the

12 vessels LADY CHARL II (United States official number

13 541399) and LINETTE (United States official number

14 654318).

15 (d) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma16 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Act of June

17 19, 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and section 12106 of title

18 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation

19 may issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise

20 endorsement for the vessel M/V TWIN DRILL (Panama

21 official number 8356–PEXT–2) if—

22 (1) the vessel undergoes a major conversion (as

23 defined in section 2101 of title 46, United States

24 Code) in a United States shipyard;
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1 (2) the cost of the major conversion is more

2 than 3 times the purchase value of the vessel before

3 the major conversion;

4 (3) the major conversion is completed and the

5 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

6 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement

7 before June 30, 1995;

8 (4) the person documenting the vessel contracts

9 with a United States shipyard to construct an addi10 tional vessel of equal or greater capacity within 12

11 months of the date of enactment of this Act, for de12 livery within 36 months of the date of such contract,

13 which vessel shall also be documented under chapter

14 121 of title 46, United States Code.

15 (e) Notwithstanding sections 12106 and 12108 of

16 title 46, United States Code, the Act of June 19, 1886

17 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and section 27 of the Merchant

18 Marine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Secretary

19 of Transportation may issue a certificate of documentation

20 with a coastwise and fishery endorsement for the vessel

21 REEL CLASS (Hawaii registration number HA–6566–

22 E).

23 (f) Notwithstanding section 12108 of title 46, United

24 States Code, the Secretary of Transportation may issue

25 a certificate of documentation with a fishery endorsement
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1 for the vessel DA WARRIOR (United States official num2 ber 962231).

3 (g) Notwithstanding any other law or any agreement

4 with the United States Government, the vessels UST AT5 LANTIC (United States official number 601437) and

6 UST PACIFIC (United States official number 613131)

7 may be sold to a person that is not a citizen of the United

8 States and transferred to or placed under a foreign reg9 istry.

10 (h) Notwithstanding any other law, the vessel AMY

11 CHOUEST (United States official number 995631) is

12 deemed to be less than 500 gross tons, as measured under

13 chapter 145 of title 46, United States Code, for purposes

14 of the maritime laws of the United States.

15 SEC. 4. NAUTICAL CHARTING AND MARINE SAFETY IM16 PROVEMENTS.

17 No later than 180 days after the date of enactment

18 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce may deploy a

19 Physical Ocean Real-Time System consisting, at a mini20 mum, of current, wind, tide, salinity, and water level

21 measuring devices and necessary computer links, in Gal22 veston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel.
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1 SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM ON SEALIFT TRAINING.

2 The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a

3 3-year pilot program for Sealift Training at the Massachu4 setts Maritime Academy.

Passed the House of Representatives November 20,

1993.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.

By DALLAS L. DENDY, JR.,

Assistant to the Clerk.