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HQ 112953

November 24, 1993

VES-3-02 CO:R:IT:C 112953 GOB

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Mr. Robert Koch
839 Highway 61 East
Two Harbors, Minnesota 55616

RE: Coastwise trade; transportation of passengers; 46 U.S.C. App. 289; ISLAND GIRL

Dear Mr. Koch:

This is in response to your letter dated November 19, 1993, which we received by facsimile on November 22, 1993.

FACTS:

You request a ruling with respect to the proposed chartering of your vessel, ISLAND GIRL (the "vessel"), on the following routes:

1. The charter would originate in Miami, sail beyond the territorial sea base line to a location in the Florida Keys, and return to Miami.

2. The charter would originate in Miami, sail to the Bahamas, and return to Miami.

3. The charter would originate in the Bahamas, stop at a location in the Bahamas, and then sail to Miami.

The charters would not be bareboat charters, but would include vessel and crew.

ISSUE:

Whether the above-described itineraries using a foreign-built vessel are permissible under the coastwise passenger statute, 46 U.S.C. App. 289.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Generally, the coastwise laws prohibit the transportation of passengers or merchandise between points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws in any vessel other than a
vessel built in, documented under the laws of, and owned by citizens of the United States.

The coastwise law applicable to the carriage of passengers is found in 46 U.S.C. App. 289 and provides that:

No foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed.

The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the territorial sea, which is 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.

19 CFR 4.50 (b) defines "passenger" as follows:

...any person carried on a vessel who is not connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or business.

As we understand your description of the first scenario: passengers would board the vessel in Miami; the vessel would sail to a point in the Florida Keys where the passengers would temporarily leave the vessel; the passengers would get back on the vessel at that point in the Florida Keys; and the vessel would return to Miami, where the passengers would leave the vessel. This scenario is prohibited by 46 U.S.C. App. 289 because it involves the coastwise transportation of passengers.

With respect to the first scenario, we also note the following. In interpreting the coastwise laws as applied to the transportation of passengers, we have ruled that the carriage of passengers entirely within the territorial waters, even though the passengers disembark at their point of embarkation and the vessel touches no other point, is considered coastwise trade subject to the coastwise laws. The transportation of passengers to the high seas or foreign waters and back to the point of embarkation, often called a "voyage to nowhere," is not considered coastwise trade, assuming that the passengers do not go ashore, even temporarily, at another coastwise point.

The itineraries described in the second and third scenarios are not violative of 46 U.S.C. App. 289 because a point in the Bahamas is not a coastwise point. Thus, those itineraries do not involve the transportation of passengers between ports or places in the United States.

HOLDING:

As detailed above, the proposed itinerary in the first scenario involves the coastwise transportation of passengers which is violative of 46 U.S.C. App. 289. The proposed itineraries in the second and third scenarios does not involve the coastwise transportation of passengers and is not violative of 46 U.S.C. App. 289.

Sincerely,

Arthur P. Schifflin
Chief

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