103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1250

AN ACT

To amend the coastwise trade laws to clarify their

application to certain passenger vessels.
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1250

AN ACT

To amend the coastwise trade laws to clarify their application

to certain passenger vessels.

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 ‘‘United States-Flag

5 Passenger Vessel Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Act of June 19,

8 1886 (46 App. U.S.C. 289), is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 8. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by

3 law, a vessel may transport passengers in coastwise trade

4 only if—

5 ‘‘(1) the vessel meets the requirements of sec6 tion 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 and sec7 tion 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916 for engaging in the

8 coastwise trade; and

9 ‘‘(2) for a vessel that is at least 5 net tons, the

10 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

11 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement.

12 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—

13 ‘‘(1) CIVIL PENALTY.—A person operating a

14 vessel in violation of this section is liable to the

15 United States Government for a civil penalty of

16 $1,000 for each passenger transported in violation of

17 this section.

18 ‘‘(2) FORFEITURE.—A vessel operated in know19 ing violation of this section, and its equipment, are

20 liable to seizure by and forfeiture to the United

21 States Government.

22 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘coastwise trade’ includes—

24 ‘‘(A) transportation of a passenger from a

25 place in any State or possession of the United

26 States and returning to that place, if during
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1 that transportation no passenger departs from

2 the vessel in a foreign country; and

3 ‘‘(B) transportation of a passenger be4 tween points in the United States, either di5 rectly or by way of a foreign port; and

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘passenger’ does not include a

7 travel agent on a voyage if—

8 ‘‘(A) the purpose of the voyage is to pro9 mote future trips on the vessel;

10 ‘‘(B) money is not paid to the vessel owner

11 or charterer for the voyage; and

12 ‘‘(C) the voyage goes beyond the territorial

13 sea of the United States.’’.

14 (b) EXCEPTION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amend16 ment made by subsection (a), an ineligible vessel

17 may engage in transport of passengers in coastwise

18 trade (as those terms are defined in that amend19 ment) on a trade route, if—

20 (A) the vessel engaged, in the period begin21 ning January 1, 1990, and ending March 9,

22 1993, in transport of passengers in coastwise

23 trade on that trade route; and

24 (B) within one year after the date of the

25 enactment of this Act, the owner files with the
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1 Secretary of Transportation an affidavit certify2 ing compliance with subparagraph (A) and list3 ing each trade route on which the vessel en4 gaged in transport of passengers in coastwise

5 trade in the period described in subparagraph

6 (A).

7 (2) SCHEDULED EXPIRATION OF EXCEPTION.—

8 Paragraph (1) does not apply to an ineligible vessel

9 after the later of—

10 (A) January 1, 2000,

11 (B) the date that is 15 years after the date

12 of completion of construction of the vessel, or

13 (C) the date that is 15 years after the date

14 of completion of any major conversion of the

15 vessel that is begun before the date of the en16 actment of this Act.

17 (3) EXPIRATION OF EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE

18 TO RECREW.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to an

19 ineligible vessel after the date that is 5 years after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, unless—

21 (A) each individual employed on the vessel

22 after the one-year period beginning on the date

23 of the enactment of this Act is either a citizen

24 of the United States or an alien lawfully admit-
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1 ted to the United States for permanent resi2 dence; and

3 (B) not more than 25 percent of the total

4 number of individuals employed on the vessel

5 after the one-year period beginning on the date

6 of the enactment of this Act are aliens lawfully

7 admitted to the United States for permanent

8 residence.

9 (4) TERMINATION OF EXCEPTION UPON ENTRY

10 OF REPLACEMENT.—Paragraph (1) does not apply

11 to an ineligible vessel with respect to a trade route

12 after the date of the entry into service on that trade

13 route of an eligible vessel, if—

14 (A) the eligible vessel has a passenger car15 rying capacity that is equal to at least 75 per16 cent of the passenger carrying capacity of the

17 ineligible vessel, as determined by the Secretary

18 of the Department in which the Coast Guard is

19 operating;

20 (B) the person that is the owner or

21 charterer of the eligible vessel submits to the

22 Secretary of Transportation, by not later than

23 270 days before the date of that entry into

24 service—
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1 (i) a notice of the intent of the person

2 to enter into that service; and

3 (ii) such evidence as the Secretary

4 may require that the person is offering and

5 advertising that service;

6 (C) any individual employed on the ineli7 gible vessel after the one-year period beginning

8 on the date of the enactment of this Act—

9 (i) is not a citizen of the United

10 States; and

11 (ii) is not an alien lawfully admitted

12 to the United States for permanent resi13 dence; and

14 (D) more than 25 percent of the total

15 number of individuals employed on the ineligible

16 vessel after the one-year period beginning on

17 the date of the enactment of this Act are aliens

18 lawfully admitted to the United States for per19 manent residence.

20 (5) TERMINATION OF EXCEPTION UPON SALE

21 OF VESSEL.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to an in22 eligible vessel after any date on which the vessel is

23 sold after the date of the enactment of this Act.

24 (6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection—
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1 (A) the term ‘‘eligible vessel’’ means a ves2 sel that is eligible under chapter 121 of title 46,

3 United States Code, for a certificate of docu4 mentation authorizing the vessel to engage in

5 coastwise trade;

6 (B) the term ‘‘ineligible vessel’’ means a

7 vessel that is not eligible under chapter 121 of

8 title 46, United States Code, for a certificate of

9 documentation authorizing the vessel to engage

10 in coastwise trade; and

11 (C) the term ‘‘major conversion’’ has the

12 meaning that term has under section 2101 of

13 title 46, United States Code.

14 SEC. 3. DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS.

15 (a) 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 sections 12106 and

18 12107 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of

19 Transportation may issue certificates of documentation

20 with appropriate endorsement for employment in the

21 coastwise trade for the following vessels:

22 (1) Emerald Princess (former United States of23 ficial number 530095).

24 (2) Europa Star (former United States official

25 number 588270).
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1 (3) Europa Sun (former United States official

2 number 596656).

3 (b) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma4 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) and section 12106

5 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transpor6 tation may issue a certificate of documentation with ap7 propriate endorsement for employment in the coastwise

8 trade for the vessel M/V Helton Voyager (Spanish reg9 istration lista 2A–Folio–592) if—

10 (1) the person documenting the vessel entered

11 a contract before May 21, 1992, to purchase the ves12 sel;

13 (2) the vessel undergoes a major conversion (as

14 defined in section 2101 of title 46, United States

15 Code) in a United States shipyard under a contract

16 signed before January 1, 1994;

17 (3) the cost of the major conversion is more

18 than the value of the vessel before the major conver19 sion; and

20 (4) the major conversion is completed and the

21 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

22 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement

23 before January 1, 1995.

24 (c) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma25 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) and section 12106
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1 of title 46, United States Code, the Secretary of Transpor2 tation may issue a certificate of documentation with ap3 propriate endorsement for employment in the coastwise

4 trade, for the vessel M/V Twin Drill (Panama official

5 number 8536–PEXT–2) if—

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

7 defined in section 2101 of title 46, United States

8 Code) in a United States shipyard;

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

10 than 3 times the purchase value of the vessel before

11 the major conversion;

12 (3) the major conversion is completed and the

13 vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46,

14 United States Code, with a coastwise endorsement

15 before June 30, 1995; and

16 (4) the person documenting the vessel contracts

17 with a United States shipyard to construct an addi18 tional vessel of equal or greater passenger capacity

19 within 12 months of the date of enactment of this

20 Act, for delivery within 36 months of the date of

21 such contract, which vessel shall also be documented

22 under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code.

23 (d)(1) The vessel Star of Texas (Lloyds register num24 ber L5103936) may engage in coastwise trade (as defined

25 in section 8(c)(1)(A) of the Act of June 19, 1886, as
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1 amended by this Act) out of the Port of Galveston during

2 the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment

3 of this Act, if during the period beginning 30 days after

4 that date of enactment and ending 5 years after that date

5 of enactment—

6 (A) at least 60 employees engaged on the vessel

7 are United States citizens;

8 (B) of the employees engaged on the vessel who

9 are United States citizens, at least 60 are proficient

10 in lifeboat training, firefighting, and vessel evacu11 ation under standards certified by the United States

12 Coast Guard;

13 (C) all repairs and alterations to the vessel are

14 done in United States shipyards;

15 (D) the vessel is a United States documented

16 vessel before the end of that period; and

17 (E) all other employees are instructed in basic

18 safety techniques.

19 (2) Notwithstanding section 27 of the Merchant Ma20 rine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883) and section 12106

21 of title 46, United States Code, and subject to paragraph

22 (1), the Secretary of Transportation may issue a certifi23 cate of documentation with appropriate endorsement for

24 employment in the coastwise trade in the period described

25 in paragraph (1) for a vessel described in that paragraph.
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1 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF STATES TO REGU2 LATE GAMBLING DEVICES ON VESSELS.

3 Section 5(b)(2) of the Act of January 2, 1951 (15

4 U.S.C. 1175(b)(2)), commonly referred to as the ‘‘John5 son Act’’, is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN VOYAGES

7 AND SEGMENTS.—A voyage or segment of a

8 voyage is not described in subparagraph (B) if

9 it includes or consists of, respectively, a seg10 ment—

11 ‘‘(i) that begins and ends in the same

12 State or possession of the United States;

13 ‘‘(ii) that is part of a voyage to an14 other State or possession of the United

15 States or to a foreign country; and

16 ‘‘(iii) in which the vessel reaches the

17 other State or possession of the United

18 States or the foreign country within 3 days

19 after leaving the State or possession of the
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1 United States in which the segment

2 begins.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives November 20,

1993.

Attest:

Clerk.