HQ 0111713 - Coastwise; Towing; Northern Mariana Islands; CNMI; 46 U.S.C. App. 316. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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HQ 111713

August 7, 1991

VES-3 CO:R:IT:C 111713 JBW

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Elizabeth Robertson, Esq.
Klemm, Blair, Sterling & Johnson
Suite 1008 Pacific News Building
238 Archbishop F. C. Flores Street
Agaa, Guam 96910

RE: Coastwise; Towing; Northern Mariana Islands; CNMI; 46 U.S.C. App. 316.

Dear Ms. Robertson:

This letter is in response to your inquiry of May 10, 1991, in which you request a ruling on the application of the coastwise towing statute, 46 U.S.C. App. 316, to movements of foreign- built, foreign-owned tugboats between points in the harbor at Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

FACTS:

As stated in your letter, a CNMI corporation intends to employ a foreign-built, foreign-registered tugboat to conduct harbor movements and pilotage services in and around the harbor at Saipan. The vessel is Japanese-built with a Panamanian registry.

ISSUE:

Whether the towing operation of a foreign-built, foreign- registered tugboat between points in the CNMI is a violation of the coastwise towing statute, 46 U.S.C. App. 316.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The coastwise laws of the United States prohibit the transportation of merchandise between points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, in any vessel other 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. 46 U.S.C.A. App. 883 (West Supp. 1991)(referred to as "the Jones Act"). Further, Section 316(a) of Title 46, United States Code Appendix, prohibits the use of a non-coastwise-qualified vessel to tow any vessel, other than a vessel in distress, between ports or places in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or by way of a foreign port, or to do any part of such towing, or to tow any such vessel between points in a harbor of the United States. 46 U.S.C.A. App. 316(a) (West Supp. 1991). Generally, the coastwise and towing laws apply to points within the territorial sea of the United States, defined as the belt, three nautical miles wide, seaward of the territorial sea baseline, and to points located in internal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline, in cases where the baseline and the coastline differ. Headquarters Ruling Letter 111275, dated November 13, 1990.

Sections 502(b) and 503(b) of the "Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America," Pub. L. No. 94-241, as amended, 90 Stat. 263 (1976) (48 U.S.C.A. 1681 note (1987)), provide in part that, except for activities of the United States Government and its contractors in the CNMI, the coastwise laws do not apply to the CNMI. Consequently, the coastwise laws, described above, would not prohibit the use of a non-coastwise- qualified vessel from conducting towing or pilotage services in the CNMI. Moreover, no other law administered by the Customs Service prohibits such activity.

HOLDING:

The coastwise towing statute does not prohibit a foreign- built, foreign-registered tugboat from engaging in towing operations between points in the CNMI.

Sincerely,

B. James Fritz
Chief

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