II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1204

To increase economic benefits to the United States from the activities of

cruise ships visiting Alaska.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 1 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To increase economic benefits to the United States from

the activities of cruise ships visiting Alaska.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds the following:

5 (1) It is in the interest of the United States to

6 maximize economic return from the growing trade in

7 cruise ship sailings to and from Alaska by encourag8 ing the use of United States berthing and repair fa9 cilities, labor, supplies, and other services, as well as

10 the growth of new enterprises such as the carriage
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1 of passengers on luxury cruises between ports in

2 Alaska.

3 (2) In promoting additional economic benefits

4 to the United States from the cruise ship industry,

5 there is a need to ensure that existing employment

6 and economic activity associated with the Alaska

7 Marine Highway System, United States-flag tour

8 boats operating from Alaska ports, and similar ef9 forts are protected from adverse impacts.

10 (3) Cruise ship sailings to Alaska comprise a

11 vital and growing segment of the United States trav12 el industry. The number of passengers entering or

13 leaving Alaska via cruise ship increased by 14 per14 cent in the last two years alone, and is expected to

15 continue increasing at a similar or higher rate.

16 (4) No United States-flag cruise ships are pres17 ently available to enter the Alaska trade. Thus, all

18 cruise ships carrying passengers to and from Alaska

19 destinations are foreign-flag vessels which are pre20 cluded, under current law, from carrying passengers

21 from other United States ports to ports in Alaska,

22 and from carrying passengers between ports in Alas23 ka.

24 (5) The City of Vancouver, British Columbia

25 receives substantial economic benefit through provid-
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1 ing services to cruise ships in the Alaska trade, in2 cluding direct and indirect employment of 2,435 per3 sons in 1992, and direct and indirect payments for

4 goods and services of $119,700,000.

5 (6) The transfer of cruise ship-based economic

6 activity from Vancouver, British Columbia to United

7 States ports could, at 1992 spending levels, yield ad8 ditional Federal Government revenues of

9 $97,600,000 per annum, and additional State and

10 local government revenues of $29,700,000.

11 SEC. 2. FOREIGN FLAG CRUISE VESSELS.

12 (a) WAIVER.—Notwithstanding provisions of section

13 8 of the Act of June 19, 1886 (46 U.S.C. 289), or any

14 other provision of law, passengers may be transported in

15 foreign-flag cruise vessels between ports in Alaska and be16 tween ports in Alaska and other United States ports, ex17 cept as otherwise provided by this section.

18 (b) COASTWISE TRADE.—Upon a showing satisfac19 tory to the Secretary of Transportation, by the owner or

20 charterer of a United States cruise vessel, that service

21 aboard such vessel qualified to engage in the coastwise

22 trade is being offered or advertised pursuant to a Certifi23 cate of Financial Responsibility for Indemnification of

24 Passengers for Nonperformance of Transportation (46

25 App. U.S.C. 817e) from the Federal Maritime Commission
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1 for service in the coastwise trade between ports in Alaska

2 or between ports in Alaska and other ports in the United

3 States, or both, the Secretary shall notify the owner or

4 operator of one or more foreign-flag cruise vessels trans5 porting passengers under authority of this section, if any,

6 that he shall, within one year from the date of notification,

7 terminate such service. Coastwise privileges granted to

8 any owner or operator of a foreign-flag cruise vessel under

9 this section shall expire on the 365th day following receipt

10 of the Secretary’s notification.

11 (c) NOTIFICATION.—Notifications issued by the Sec12 retary under subsection (b) of this section shall be issued

13 to the owners or operators of foreign-flag cruise vessels—

14 (1) in the reverse of the order in which foreign15 flag cruise vessels entered the coastwise service

16 under this section determined by the date of the ves17 sels’ first coastwise sailing; and

18 (2) in the minimum number as to ensure that

19 the passenger-carrying capacity thereby removed

20 from coastwise service exceeds the passenger-carry21 ing capacity of the United States cruise vessel which

22 is entering the service.

23 (d) TERMINATION.—If, at the expiration of the 365-

24 day period specified in subsection (b) of this section, the

25 United States cruise vessel that has offered service has
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1 not entered the coastwise passenger trade between ports

2 in Alaska or between ports in Alaska and other ports in

3 the United States, then the termination of service required

4 by subsection (b) shall not take effect until 90 days follow5 ing the entry into trade by the United States vessel.

6 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,

7 the term—

8 (1) ‘‘cruise vessel’’ means a vessel of greater

9 than 5,000 deadweight tons which provides a full

10 range of luxury entertainment, personal care and

11 food services for its passengers; and

12 (2) ‘‘foreign-flag cruise vessels’’ does not apply

13 to vessels which regularly carry for hire both pas14 sengers and vehicles or other cargo.

15 (f) DISCLAIMER.—Nothing in this Act shall be con16 strued as affecting or otherwise modifying the authority

17 contained in the Act of June 30, 1961 (46 U.S.C. 289b)

18 authorizing the transportation of passengers and mer19 chandise in Canadian vessels between ports in Alaska and

20 the United States.

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