HQ 0109633 - Applicability of the coastwise laws to the use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a barge upon which a billboard is placed - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 109633

August 15, 1988

VES-3 CO:R:P:C 109633 PH

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Mr. Leonard E. Levin
Outdoor Advertising/Real Estate
Post Office Box 69
Camden, New Jersey 08101-0069

RE: Applicability of the coastwise laws to the use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a barge upon which a billboard is placed

Dear Mr. Levin:

In your letter of July 8, 1988, you request a ruling on whether a floating barge upon which a billboard would be placed would be determined to be in the coastwise trade and whether the vessel could be numbered with the State of New Jersey.

FACTS:

You state that you are trying to get approval to place a billboard on a floating barge in the "Great Thorofare" within the boundaries of Atlantic City, New Jersey. You state that the barge would be moored and that it could be moved, if required. The only item on the barge would be the billboard. You ask if the barge would be determined to be engaged in the coastwise trade or if it could be documented with the State of New Jersey.

With regard to the question of documenting the barge with the State of New Jersey (under a State number, we assume, see 33 CFR Parts 173 and 174), we defer to the United States Coast Guard. Questions of vessel documentation are within the jurisdiction of that Agency. If you wish to ask the Coast Guard about this topic, you may contact your local Coast Guard office or write to:

Mr. Thomas Willis
Chief, Vessel Documentation
U.S. Coast Guard (GMVI-6/13)
2100 Second Street, SW. (Room 1312)
Washington, D.C. 20593-0001

ISSUE:

Is the use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a floating barge upon which a billboard is placed a use in the coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 27 of the Act of June 5, 1920, as amended (41 Stat. 999; 46 U.S.C. App. 883, often called the Jones Act), provides that:

No merchandise shall be transported by water, or by land and water, on penalty of forfeiture of the merchandise (or a monetary amount up to the value thereof ...), between points in the United States ... embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transporta- tion, in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States ....

We have ruled on an issue similar to that raised in this case. In a ruling dated June 11, 1984 (File No. 106665), copy enclosed, we held that "[t]he operation in United States coastal waters of a vessel equipped with an electric advertising sign ... is not a use of the vessel in the coastwise trade, if the adver- tising sign is placed on the vessel and taken off the vessel at the same coastwise point or the advertising sign is permanently affixed to the vessel."

In this case as well, the barge would not be considered to be engaged in coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883 when used in the waters off Atlantic City to display a billboard, provided, that the billboard is permanently placed on the barge or that it is placed on the barge and removed from the barge at the same point. If the billboard is placed on the barge at one point in the United States and removed from the barge at another such point, it would be considered to be transported in the coastwise trade subject to section 883.

In addition to 46 U.S.C. App. 883, the coastwise towing law may be applicable to the operation you are considering. This law (section 4370 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (R.S. 4370; 46 U.S.C. App. 316(a))), prohibits the towing of any vessel, other than a vessel in distress, by a vessel not documented under the United States flag to engage in the coastwise or Great Lakes trade between ports or places in the United States embraced
within the coastwise laws, either directly or by way of a foreign port or place, or for any part of such towing, or such towing be- tween points in a harbor of the United States. This law would prohibit the towing of the barge under consideration between points in the United States, including points in United States territorial waters, by any vessel other than a vessel qualified for the coastwise or Great Lakes trade.

HOLDING:

The use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a floating barge upon which a billboard is placed is not a use in the coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883, provided, that the billboard is permanently placed on the barge or that it is placed on the barge and removed from the barge at the same point.

Sincerely,

B. James Fritz

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