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Unit: $U35

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UNITED STATES v. LOCKE

Opinion of the Court

empted by federal laws which governed the certiﬁcation of
vessels and standards of operation. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9
Wheat. 1 (1824), invalidated a New York law that attempted
to grant a monopoly to operate steamboats on the ground it
was inconsistent with the coasting license held by the vessel
owner challenging the exclusive franchise. And in Sinnot v.
Davenport, 22 How. 227 (1859), the Court decided that the
federal license held by the vessel contained “the only guards
and restraints, which Congress has seen ﬁt to annex to the
privileges of ships and vessels engaged in the coasting
trade.”
Id., at 241. The Court went on to explain that in
such a circumstance, state laws on the subject must yield:
“In every such case, the act of Congress or treaty is supreme;
and the law of the State, though enacted in the exercise of
powers not controverted, must yield to it.”

Id., at 243.

Against this background, Congress has enacted a series of
statutes pertaining to maritime tanker transports and has
ratiﬁed international agreements on the subject. We begin
by referring to the principal statutes and international in-
struments discussed by the parties.

1. The Tank Vessel Act.

The Tank Vessel Act of 1936, 49 Stat. 1889, enacted speciﬁc
requirements for operation of covered vessels. The Act pro-
vided that “[i]n order to secure effective provisions against
the hazards of life and property,” additional federal rules
could be adopted with respect to the “design and construc-
tion, alteration, or repair of such vessels,” “the operation of
such vessels,” and “the requirements of the manning of such
vessels and the duties and qualiﬁcations of the ofﬁcers and
crews thereof.” The purpose of the Act was to establish “a
reasonable and uniform set of rules and regulations concern-
ing . . . vessels carrying the type of cargo deemed danger-
ous.” H. R. Rep. No. 2962, 74th Cong., 2d Sess., 2 (1936).
The Tank Vessel Act was the primary source for regulating