II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2479

To promote the construction and operation of United States flag cruise

vessels in the United States, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 29 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994

Mrs. MURRAY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To promote the construction and operation of United States

flag cruise vessels in the United States, 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 ‘‘United States Cruise

5 Vessel Development Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to promote construction

8 and operation of United States flag cruise vessels in the

9 United States.
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1 SEC. 3. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

2 Section 8 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to abolish cer3 tain fees for official services to American vessels, and to

4 amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, sea5 men, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes’’, ap6 proved June 19, 1886 (24 Stat. 81, chapter 421; 46 App.

7 U.S.C. 289), is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘SEC. 8. COASTWISE TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS.

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

10 law, a vessel may transport passengers in coastwise trade

11 only if—

12 ‘‘(1) the vessel is owned by a person that is—

13 ‘‘(A) an individual who is a citizen of the

14 United States; or

15 ‘‘(B) a corporation, partnership, or asso16 ciation that is a citizen of the United States

17 under section 2(a) of the Shipping Act, 1916

18 (46 App. U.S.C. 802(a));

19 ‘‘(2) the vessel meets the requirements of sec20 tion 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 App.

21 U.S.C. 883); and

22 ‘‘(3) for a vessel that is at least 5 net tons, the

23 vessel is issued a certificate of documentation under

24 chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, with a

25 coastwise endorsement.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR VESSEL UNDER DEMISE

2 CHARTER.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(1) does not

4 apply to a cruise vessel operating under a demise

5 charter that—

6 ‘‘(A) has a term of at least 18 months; and

7 ‘‘(B) is to a person described in subsection

8 (a)(1).

9 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR OPER10 ATION.—A cruise vessel authorized to operate in

11 coastwise trade under paragraph (1) based on a de12 mise charter described in paragraph (1) may operate

13 in that coastwise trade during a period following the

14 termination of the charter of not more than 6

15 months, if the operation—

16 ‘‘(A) is approved by the Secretary; and

17 ‘‘(B) is in accordance with such terms as

18 may be prescribed by the Secretary for that ap19 proval.

20 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR VESSEL TO BE REFLAGGED.—

21 ‘‘(1) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a)(2) and sec22 tion 12106(a)(2)(A) of title 46, United States Code,

23 do not apply to a cruise vessel if—

24 ‘‘(A) the vessel—
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1 ‘‘(i) is not documented under chapter

2 121 of title 46, United States Code, on the

3 date of enactment of the United States

4 Cruise Vessel Development Act of 1994;

5 and

6 ‘‘(ii) is not less than 5 years old and

7 not more than 15 years old on the first

8 date that the vessel is documented under

9 that chapter after that date of enactment;

10 and

11 ‘‘(B) the owner or charterer of the vessel

12 has entered into a contract for the construction

13 in the United States of another cruise vessel

14 that has a total berth or stateroom capacity

15 that is at least 80 percent of the capacity of the

16 cruise vessel.

17 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO OPER18 ATE.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to a vessel after

19 the date that is 18 months after the date on which

20 a certificate of documentation with a coastwise en21 dorsement is first issued for the vessel after the date

22 of enactment of the United States Cruise Vessel De23 velopment Act of 1994 if, before the end of that 18-

24 month period, the keel of another vessel has not

25 been laid, or another vessel is not at a similar stage
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1 of construction, under a contract required for the

2 vessel under paragraph (1)(B).

3 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION OF PERIOD BEFORE TERMI4 NATION.—The Secretary of Transportation may ex5 tend the 18-month period under paragraph (2) for

6 an additional period of not to exceed 6 months for

7 good cause shown.

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON OPERATIONS.—A person (in9 cluding a related person with respect to that person) who

10 owns or charters a cruise vessel operating in coastwise

11 trade under subsection (b) or (c) under a coastwise en12 dorsement may not operate any vessel between—

13 ‘‘(1) any 2 ports served by another cruise vessel

14 that transports passengers in coastwise trade under

15 subsection (a) on the date the Secretary issues the

16 coastwise endorsement; or

17 ‘‘(2) any of the islands of Hawaii.

18 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.—

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

20 vessel in violation of this section is liable to the

21 United States Government for a civil penalty of

22 $1,000 for each passenger transported in violation of

23 this section.

24 ‘‘(2) FORFEITURE.—A vessel operated in know25 ing violation of this section, and its equipment, are
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1 liable to seizure by and forfeiture to the United

2 States Government.

3 ‘‘(3) DISQUALIFICATION FROM COASTWISE

4 TRADE.—A person that is required to enter into a

5 construction contract under subsection (c)(1)(B)

6 with respect to a cruise vessel (including any related

7 person with respect to that person) may not own or

8 operate any vessel in coastwise trade after the period

9 applicable under subsection (c)(2) with respect to

10 the cruise vessel, if before the end of that period a

11 keel is not laid and a similar stage of construction

12 is not reached under such a contract.

13 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘coastwise trade’ includes trans15 portation of a passenger between points in the

16 United States, either directly or by way of a foreign

17 port;

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘cruise vessel’ means a vessel

19 that—

20 ‘‘(A) is at least 10,000 gross tons (as

21 measured under chapter 143 of title 46, United

22 States Code);

23 ‘‘(B) has berth or stateroom accommoda24 tions for at least 200 passengers; and

25 ‘‘(C) is not a ferry; and
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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘related person’ means, with re2 spect to a person—

3 ‘‘(A) a holding company, subsidiary, affili4 ate, or association of the person; and

5 ‘‘(B) an officer, director, or agent of the

6 person or of an entity referred to in subpara7 graph (A).’’.

8 SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS.

9 Section 3309 of title 46, United States Code, is

10 amended by adding at the end the following new sub11 section:

12 ‘‘(d)(1) A vessel described in paragraph (3) is deemed

13 to comply with parts B and C of this subtitle.

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall issue a certificate of inspec15 tion under subsection (a) to a vessel described in para16 graph (3).

17 ‘‘(3) A vessel is described in this paragraph if—

18 ‘‘(A) the vessel meets the standards and condi19 tions for the issuance of a control verification certifi20 cate to a foreign vessel embarking passengers in the

21 United States;

22 ‘‘(B) a coastwise endorsement is issued for the

23 vessel under section 12106 of this title after the date

24 of enactment of the United States Cruise Vessel De25 velopment Act of 1994; and
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1 ‘‘(C) the vessel is authorized to engage in coast2 wise trade by reason of subsection (c) of section 8

3 of the Act entitled ‘An Act to abolish certain fees for

4 official services to American vessels, and to amend

5 the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen,

6 and owners of vessels, and for other purposes’, ap7 proved June 19, 1886 (24 Stat. 81, chapter 421; 46

8 App. U.S.C. 289).’’.

9 SEC. 5. CITIZENSHIP FOR PURPOSES OF DOCUMENTATION.

10 Section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916 (46 App. U.S.C.

11 802), is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ‘‘other than

13 primarily in the transport of passengers,’’ after ‘‘the

14 coastwise trade’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub16 section:

17 ‘‘(e) For purposes of determining citizenship under

18 subsection (a) with respect to operation of a vessel pri19 marily in the transport of passengers in coastwise trade,

20 the controlling interest in a partnership or association that

21 owns the vessel shall not be deemed to be owned by citi22 zens of the United States unless a majority interest in the

23 partnership or association is owned by citizens of the Unit24 ed States free from any trust or fiduciary obligation in
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1 favor of any person that is not a citizen of the United

2 States.’’.

3 SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO TITLE XI OF THE MERCHANT MA4 RINE ACT, 1936.

5 Section 1101(b) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936

6 (46 App. U.S.C. 1271(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘pas7 senger cargo’’ and inserting ‘‘passenger, cargo,’’.

8 SEC. 7. PERMITS FOR VESSELS ENTERING UNITS OF NA9 TIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

10 (a) PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision

11 of law, the Secretary of the Interior may not permit a per12 son to operate a vessel in any unit of the National Park

13 System except in accordance with the following priority:

14 (1) First, any person that—

15 (A) will operate a vessel that is docu16 mented under the laws of, and the home port

17 of which is located in, the United States; or

18 (B) holds rights to provide visitor services

19 under section 1307(a) of the Alaska National

20 Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C.

21 3197(a)).

22 (2) Second, any person that will operate a ves23 sel that—

24 (A) is documented under the laws of a for25 eign country, and
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1 (B) on the date of the enactment of this

2 Act is permitted to be operated by the person

3 in the unit.

4 (3) Third, any person that will operate a vessel

5 other than a vessel described in paragraph (1) or

6 (2).

7 (b) REVOCATION OF PERMITS FOR FOREIGN-DOCU8 MENTED VESSELS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall

9 revoke or refuse to renew permission granted by the Sec10 retary for the operation of a vessel documented under the

11 laws of a foreign country in a unit of the National Park

12 System, if—

13 (1) a person requests permission to operate a

14 vessel documented under the laws of the United

15 States in that unit; and

16 (2) the permission may not be granted because

17 of a limit on the number of permits that may be is18 sued for that operation.

19 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON REVOCATION OF PERMITS.—

20 The Secretary of the Interior may not revoke or refuse

21 to renew permission under subsection (b) for any person

22 holding rights to provide visitor services under section

23 1307(a) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conserva24 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 3197(a)).
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1 (d) RETURN OF PERMITS.—Any person whose per2 mission to provide visitors services in a unit of the Na3 tional Park System has been revoked or not renewed

4 under subsection (b) shall have the right of first refusal

5 to a permit to provide visitors services in that unit of the

6 National Park System that becomes available when the

7 conditions described in subsection (b) no longer apply.

8 Such right shall be limited to the number of permits which

9 are revoked or not renewed.

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