103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 58

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to

Fleet to certain nonprofit organizations.convey vessels in the National Defense Reserve
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 58

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE VESSELS.

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

3 Transportation may convey without consideration all

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

5 described in subsection (b) to any nonprofit organization

6 which operates and maintains a Liberty Ship or Victory

7 Ship as a memorial to merchant mariners.

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

9 conveyed under subsection (a) are vessels which—

10 (1) are in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

11 on the date of the enactment of this Act;

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

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

14 (4) are scheduled to be scrapped.

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

16 conveying any vessel to an organization under subsection

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

18 conveyance the organization enter into an agreement

19 under which the organization shall—

20 (1) sell the vessel for scrap purposes;

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

22 purpose of refurbishing and making seaworthy a

23 Liberty Ship or Victory Ship which the organization

24 maintains as a memorial to merchant mariners, to

25 enable the ship to participate in 1994 in commemo-
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1 rative activities in conjunction with the 50th anni2 versary of the Normandy invasion; and

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

4 scrapping carried out pursuant to paragraph (1)

5 which are not used in accordance with paragraph

6 (2).

7 (d) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS RETURNED.—Amounts

8 returned to the United States pursuant to subsection

9 (c)(3) shall be deposited in the Vessel Operations Revolv10 ing Fund created by the Act of June 2, 1951 (65 Stat.

11 59; 46 App. U.S.C. 1241a).

12 (e) DELIVERY OF VESSELS.—The Secretary shall de13 liver each vessel conveyed under this section—

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

15 the date of the approval of the conveyance by the

16 Secretary;

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

18 (3) without cost to the Government.

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

20 authority of the Secretary under this section to convey ves21 sels shall expire on the date that is 2 years after the date

22 of the enactment of this Act.

23 SEC. 3. DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS.

24 (a) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma25 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Act of June
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1 19, 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and section 12106 of title

2 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation

3 may issue certificates of documentation with a coastwise

4 endorsement for the following vessels:

5 (1) ABORIGINAL (United States official num6 ber 942118).

7 (2) AFTERSAIL (United States official num8 ber 689427).

9 (3) ALEXANDRIA (United States official

10 number 586490).

11 (4) AMANDA (Michigan registration number

12 MC–1125–FR).

13 (5) ARBITRAGE II (United States official

14 number 962861).

15 (6) ARIEL (United States official number

16 954762).

17 (7) BRANDARIS (former United States official

18 number 263174).

19 (8) COMPASS ROSE (United States official

20 number 695865).

21 (9) DIXIE (United States official number

22 513159).

23 (10) ELISSA (United States official number

24 697285).
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1 (11) EMERALD PRINCESS (former United

2 States official number 530095).

3 (12) ENTERPRISE (United States official

4 number 692956).

5 (13) EUROPA STAR (former United States

6 official number 588270).

7 (14) EUROPA SUN (former United States of8 ficial number 596656).

9 (15) GAZELA OF PHILADELPHIA (Penn10 sylvania registration number PA–4339–AF).

11 (16) GRAY (Connecticut registration number

12 CT–5944–AJ).

13 (17) GRIZZLY PROCESSOR (Canadian offi14 cial number 369183).

15 (18) GUSTO (United States official number

16 624951).

17 (19) GYPSY COWBOY (United States official

18 number 550771).

19 (20) IMPATIENT LADY (United States offi20 cial number 553952).

21 (21) ISLAND GIRL (United States official

22 number 674840).

23 (22) JULIET (Michigan registration number

24 MC–1669–LM).
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1 (23) KALENA (Hawaii registration number

2 HA–1923–E).

3 (24) LAURISA (United States official number

4 924052).

5 (25) LIBBY ROSE (United States official

6 number 236976).

7 (26) LISERON (United States official number

8 971339).

9 (27) MARINE STAR (United States official

10 number 248329).

11 (28) MARINER (United States official number

12 285452).

13 (29) MARY B (Kentucky registration number

14 KY–0098–HX).

15 (30) MOONSHINE (United States official

16 number 974226).

17 (31) MYSTIQUE (United States official num18 ber 921194).

19 (32) NORTHERN LIGHT (United States offi20 cial number 237510).

21 (33) PAI NUI (Hawaii registration number

22 HA–6949–D).

23 (34) PANDACEA (United States official num24 ber 665892).
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1 (35) PELICAN (United States official number

2 234959).

3 (36) PLAY PRETTY (United States official

4 number 975346).

5 (37) PRINCE OF TIDES II (United States of6 ficial number 903858).

7 (38) RBOAT (United States official number

8 563955).

9 (39) SABLE (Massachusetts registration num10 ber MS–1841–AM).

11 (40) SERENA (United States official number

12 965317).

13 (41) SHILOH (United States official number

14 902675).

15 (42) SIDEWINDER (United States official

16 number 991719).

17 (43) SWELL DANCER (United States official

18 number 622046).

19 (44) TESSA (United States official number

20 675130).

21 (45) TOP DUCK (United States official num22 ber 990973).

23 (46) VIKING (United States official number

24 286080).
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1 (47) WHIT CON TIKI (United States official

2 number 663823).

3 (b) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma4 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) or any other law

5 restricting a foreign-flag vessel from operating in the

6 coastwise trade, the foreign-flag vessel H851 may engage

7 in the coastwise trade to transport an offshore drilling

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

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

10 Knoll 989.

11 (c) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma12 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883), the Act of June

13 19, 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and sections 12106 and

14 12107 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of

15 Transportation may issue certificates of documentation

16 with a coastwise and Great Lakes endorsement for the

17 vessels LADY CHARL II (United States official number

18 541399) and LINETTE (United States official number

19 654318).

20 (d) 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 a certificate of documentation with a coastwise
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1 endorsement for the vessel M/V TWIN DRILL (Panama

2 official number 8536–PEXT–2) if—

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

4 defined in section 2101 of title 46, United States

5 Code) in a United States shipyard;

6 (2) the cost of the major conversion is more

7 than 3 times the purchase value of the vessel before

8 the major conversion;

9 (3) the major conversion is completed and the

10 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

11 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement

12 before June 30, 1995;

13 (4) the person documenting the vessel contracts

14 with a United States shipyard to construct an addi15 tional vessel of equal or greater capacity within 12

16 months of the date of enactment of this Act, for de17 livery within 36 months of the date of such contract,

18 which vessel shall also be documented under chapter

19 121 of title 46, United States Code.

20 (e) Notwithstanding sections 12106 and 12108 of

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

22 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), and section 27 of the Merchant

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

24 of Transportation may issue a certificate of documentation

25 with a coastwise and fishery endorsement for the vessel
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1 REEL CLASS (Hawaii registration number HA–6566–

2 E).

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

4 States Code, the Secretary of Transportation may issue

5 a certificate of documentation with a fishery endorsement

6 for the vessel DA WARRIOR (United States official num7 ber 962231).

8 (g) Notwithstanding any other law or any agreement

9 with the United States Government, the vessels UST AT10 LANTIC (United States official number 601437) and

11 UST PACIFIC (United States official number 613131)

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

13 States and transferred to or placed under a foreign reg14 istry.

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

16 CHOUEST (United States official number 995631) is

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

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

19 of the maritime laws of the United States.

20 SEC. 4. NAUTICAL CHARTING AND MARINE SAFETY IM21 PROVEMENTS.

22 No later than 180 days after the date of enactment

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

24 Physical Ocean Real-Time System consisting, at a mini25 mum, of current, wind, tide, salinity, and water level
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1 measuring devices and necessary computer links, in Gal2 veston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel.

3 SEC. 5. PILOT PROGRAM ON SEALIFT TRAINING.

4 The Secretary of Transportation shall establish a 3-

5 year pilot program for Sealift Training at the Massachu6 setts Maritime Academy.

Passed the House of Representatives November 20,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.