II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2818 

To permit under certain conditions the transportation of passengers between 

the State of Alaska and other United States ports on vessels not qualified 

to engage in the coastwise trade that transport more than 1,000 passengers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 

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

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To permit under certain conditions the transportation of 

passengers between the State of Alaska and other United 

States ports on vessels not qualified to engage in the 

coastwise trade that transport more than 1,000 passengers, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Cruising for Alaska’s 

5 Workforce Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS BETWEEN 

2 ALASKA AND OTHER PORTS IN THE UNITED 

3 STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 551 of title 46, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 55124. Transportation of passengers between Alas8 ka and other ports in the United States 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATE.—The term ‘certificate’ 

11 means a certificate of financial responsibility for in12 demnification of passengers for nonperformance of 

13 transportation issued by the Federal Maritime Com14 mission under section 44102 of this title. 

15 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER VESSEL.—The term ‘pas16 senger vessel’ means a vessel transporting more than 

17 1,000 passengers that is of similar size, or offering 

18 similar service, as any other vessel transporting pas19 sengers under subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(b) EXEMPTION.—Except as otherwise provided in 

21 this section, a vessel transporting more than 1,000 pas22 sengers that is not qualified to engage in the coastwise 

23 trade may transport passengers between a port in the 

24 State of Alaska and another port in the United States, 

25 directly or by way of a foreign port. 

26 ‘‘(c) EXPIRATION OF EXEMPTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) WHEN COASTWISE-QUALIFIED VESSEL OF2 FERING SERVICE.—On a showing to the Secretary of 

3 the department in which the Coast Guard is oper4 ating, by the vessel owner or charterer, that a 

5 United States passenger vessel qualified to engage in 

6 the coastwise trade is offering or advertising pas7 senger service between a port in the State of Alaska 

8 and another port in the United States, directly or by 

9 way of a foreign port, pursuant to a certificate, the 

10 Secretary shall notify the owner or operator of each 

11 vessel transporting passengers under subsection (b) 

12 to terminate that transportation within 270 days 

13 after the Secretary’s notification. Except as provided 

14 in subsection (d), the authority to transport pas15 sengers under subsection (b) and the applicability of 

16 subsection (f) shall expire at the end of that 270-day 

17 period. 

18 ‘‘(2) WHEN NON-COASTWISE QUALIFIED VES19 SEL OFFERING SERVICE.—On a showing to the Sec20 retary, by the vessel owner or charterer, that a 

21 United States passenger vessel not qualified to en22 gage in the coastwise trade is offering or advertising 

23 passenger service between a port in the State of 

24 Alaska and another port in the United States, di25 rectly or by way of a foreign port, pursuant to a cerVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Sep 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2818.IS S2818

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1 tificate, the Secretary shall notify the owner or oper2 ator of each foreign vessel transporting passengers 

3 under subsection (b) to terminate that transpor4 tation within 270 days after the Secretary’s notifica5 tion. Except as provided in subsection (d), the au6 thority of a foreign vessel to transport passengers 

7 under subsection (b) and the applicability of sub8 section (f) shall expire at the end of that 270-day 

9 period. 

10 ‘‘(d) DELAYING EXPIRATION.—If the vessel offering 

11 or advertising the service described in subsection (c) has 

12 not begun that service within 270 days after the Sec13 retary’s notification, the expiration provided by subsection 

14 (c) is delayed until 90 days after the vessel offering or 

15 advertising the service begins that service. 

16 ‘‘(e) REINSTATEMENT OF EXEMPTION.—If the Sec17 retary finds that the service on which an expiration was 

18 based is no longer available, the expired authority to 

19 transport passengers and the applicability of subsection (f) 

20 shall be reinstated. 

21 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYMENT OF ALIEN CREWMEN.—Alien 

22 crewmen on a vessel transporting more than 1,000 pas23 sengers under the authority of subsection (b) shall be 

24 deemed to have complied with, during the voyage of such 

25 vessel, the 29-day authorized stay pursuant to their nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:58 Sep 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2818.IS S2818

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1 immigrant visas issued pursuant to subparagraph (C) or 

2 (D) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nation3 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)).’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

5 chapter 551 of title 46, United States Code, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘55124. Transportation of passengers between Alaska and other ports in the 

United States.’’. 

Æ 


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