[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4056-4058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1359]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

[Docket No. MARAD-2001-8669]


Crowley Maritime Corporation; Notice of Application for Written 
Permission Under Section 805(a) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as 
Amended

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of Application.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Crowley Maritime Corporation (Crowley), by letter dated 
January 4, 2001, requests written permission under section 805(a) of 
the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (Act), to allow Marine 
Transport Corporation's (MTC) vessels CHEMICAL EXPLORER and CHEMICAL 
TRADER to continue to receive operating-differential subsidy (ODS) 
after MTC becomes a subsidiary of Crowley. This section 805(a) 
permission is necessary for these vessels to continue to receive ODS 
because Crowley, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates vessels 
engaged in the domestic inter-coastal or coastwise service.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that 
Docket Management receives them not later than close of business (5 
p.m. est) on January 31, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Your comments should refer to docket number MARAD-2001-8669. 
You may submit your comments in writing to: Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT 
Dockets, Room PL-401, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. You may 
also submit them electronically 
via the internet at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/. You may call Docket 
Management at (202) 366-9324 and visit the Docket Room from 10 a.m. to 
5 p.m., EST., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. An 
electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web 
at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may call Edmond J. Fitzgerald, 
Director, Office of Insurance and Shipping Analysis, (202) 366-2400. 
You may send mail to Edmond J. Fitzgerald, Director, Office of 
Insurance and Shipping Analysis, Room 8117, Maritime Administration, 
400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments

How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?

    Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your 
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the docket 
number of this document in your comments. We encourage you to write 
your primary comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach 
necessary additional documents to your comments. There is no limit on 
the length of the attachments. Please submit two copies of your 
comments, including the attachments, to Docket Management at the 
address given above under ADDRESSES.
    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelop containing your comments. Docket

[[Page 4057]]

Management will return the postcard by mail.
    How do I submit confidential business information? If you wish to 
submit any information under a claim of confidentiality, you should 
submit three copies of your complete submission, including the 
information you claim to be confidential business information, to the 
Chief Counsel, Maritime Administration, at the address given above 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. You should mark ``CONFIDENTIAL'' 
on each page of the original document that your would like to keep 
confidential. In addition, you should submit two copies, from which 
your have deleted the claimed confidential business information, to 
Docket Management at the address given under ADDRESSES. When you send 
comments containing information claimed to be confidential business 
information, you should include a cover letter setting forth with 
specificity the basis for any such claim.

Will the Agency Consider Late Comments?

    We will consider all comments that Docket Management receives 
before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated 
above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also consider 
comments that Docket Management receives after that date.

How Can I Read Comments Submitted by Other People?

    You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the 
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket Room are 
indicated above in the same location. You may also see the comments on 
the Internet. To read the comments on the Internet, take the following 
steps: Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http//dmses.dot.gov/), click on the box 
labeled ``Search''. The docket number for this document is MARAD-2001-
8669. After typing in the last four-digits of the docket number, click 
on ``search.'' On the next page, which contains the docket summary 
information for the docket you selected, click on the desired comments. 
You may download the comments.

Application Request

    Crowley and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shiloh Acquisition, Inc. 
(Shiloh), entered into an Agreement of Merger with MTC dated December 
20, 2000. As part of the process, Shiloh will make a Tender Offer to 
purchase all the shares of MTC on January 5, 2001, which offer will 
expire on February 5, 2001, at which time Crowley expects to have 
control of MTC and subsequently thereafter effect a complete merger 
between Shiloh and MTC, with MTC being the surviving corporation as a 
direct subsidiary of Crowley.
    MTC, through its subsidiaries, Frances ODS Corporation and Julius 
ODS Corporation, has two operating-differential subsidy agreements with 
the Maritime Administration dated as of September 30, 1998, Contract 
No. MA/MSB-442 and Contract No. MA/MSB-440, respectively. Pursuant to 
these agreements, Frances ODS Corporation receives ODS for the SMT 
CHEMICAL EXPLORER and Julius ODS Corporation receives ODS for SMT 
CHEMICAL TRADER. The agreement for SMT CHEMICAL EXPLORER will terminate 
by its terms on September 18, 2001 and the agreement for SMT CHEMICAL 
TRADER will terminate by its terms on March 25, 2001. Frances ODS 
Corporation receives approximately $8,500 per day pursuant to the 
agreement for the SMT CHEMICAL EXPLORER and Julius ODS Corporation 
receives approximately $8,100 per day pursuant to the agreement for SMT 
CHEMICAL TRADER.
    Crowley, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates vessels 
engaged in the domestic inter-coastal or coastwise service, and has 
provided as an attachment to its application: Schedule A--the fleet of 
tugs and barges operating on the West Coast and Alaska and the Gulf; 
Schedule B--the fleet of tugs and barges operating in the U.S.-Puerto 
Rico trade; Schedule C--the fleet of tugs and barges operating on the 
East Coast and Gulf; and , Schedule D--the fleet of oil tankers 
operating throughout the Jones Act trading areas. These schedules show 
the horsepower of the tugs, capacity of the barges and tankers as well 
as the general itineraries. Interested parties may review these 
schedules by reading the application which is part of the docket and is 
accessible electronically via the internet, or personally at the DOT 
Docket Room, as described above under how to read comments submitted by 
other people.
    In connection with these domestic services, Crowley requests 
written permission of the Secretary of Transportation, pursuant to 
section 805(a) of the Act to allow the MTC subsidiaries to continue to 
receive ODS pursuant to the subsidy contracts referred to above after 
MTC becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Crowley.
    In deciding whether to grant Crowley's application for a waiver 
pursuant to section 805(a) of the Act, Crowley requests the Maritime 
Administration to consider the following:
    First, continued receipt by the two subsidiaries of MTC of ODS will 
not leak to Crowley. The subsidy dollars received by the two MTC 
subsidiaries will be used for the purposes set forth in the section 603 
of the Act, as financial aid for the operation of the two vessels, the 
CHEMICAL EXPLORER and CHEMICAL TRADER. Thus, the ODS payments will 
remain with and be used by the ODS contractors, Frances ODS Corporation 
and Julius ODS Corporation.
    Second, the continued receipt of ODS will be for (i) a relatively 
small amount of money and (ii) for a very short period of time. Crowley 
expects to have control of and complete the merger process by early 
February 2001. If this timetable holds firm, it would mean that Juluis 
ODS Corporation will receive subsidy for approximately one and a half 
months and Frances ODS Corporation will receive subsidy for 
approximately six and a half months. During this short period of time, 
the subsidy payments will be used by the ODS contractors and not leaked 
to Crowley.
    Third, Crowley has been an operator in the Jones Act trades for 
over 100 years and, operates a wide range of vessels throughout the 
entire Jones Act trade area. Receipt of (i) a relatively small amount 
of ODS, (ii) for a short period of time; and (iii) earmarked for use by 
the Julius ODS Corporation and Frances ODS Corporation in the operation 
of the CHEMICAL TRADER and CHEMICAL EXPLORER will not leak to any of 
Crowley's wide range of Jones Act operations. In addition, it should be 
noted that by reason of the Title XI Reserve Fund and Financial 
Agreement between MARAD and the Julius ODS Corporation and the Frances 
ODS Corporation, those companies are prohibited from dividending any 
monies to their corporate parent and will continue to be so restricted 
through the date of the last ODS payment on September 18, 2001. Thus, 
there is no way for MTC to leak the ODS payments to Crowley.
    For the reasons set forth above, Crowley believes that the grant of 
the requested section 805(a) waiver will not result in unfair 
competition to any person, firm, or corporation operating exclusively 
in the coastwise or inter-coastal service or that it would be 
prejudicial to the objects and policy of the Act and a hearing on the 
matter is not needed.
    Any person, firm, or corporation having any interest (within the 
meaning of section 805(a)) in Crowley's request and desiring to submit 
comments

[[Page 4058]]

together with petition for leave to intervene should do so in 
accordance with the above instructions for submitting comments. The 
petition should state clearly and concisely the grounds of interest, 
and the alleged facts relied on for relief.
    If no petition for leave to intervene is received with the 
specified time or if it is determined that petitions filed do not 
demonstrate sufficient interest to warrant a hearing, the Maritime 
Administration will take such action as may be deemed appropriate.
    In the event petitions regarding the relevant section 805(a) issues 
are received from parties with standing to be heard, a hearing will be 
held, the purpose of which will be to receive evidence under section 
805(a) relative to whether the proposed operations: (a) could result in 
unfair competition to any person, firm, or corporation operating 
exclusively in the coastwise or inter-coastal service, or (b) would be 
prejudicial to the objects and policy of the Act relative to domestic 
trade operations.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Programs No. 20.805 
Operating-Differential Subsidies)

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
    Dated: January 11, 2001.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-1359 Filed 1-16-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P