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HQ 114060

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August 15, 1997

VES-3-19-RR:IT:EC 114060 GEV

CATEGORY: CARRIER

John B. Gibson
Program Coordinator
The Mountain Workshop
P.O. Box 625
Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877

RE: Coastwise Trade; Canadian-built Canoes less than 5 net tons; Navigation and
Seamanship Instruction; 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289

Dear Mr. Gibson:

This is in response to your letter of August 6, 1997, regarding your fleet of four Canadian-built Voyageur canoes. Your letter enclosed information pertaining to the manufacture and proposed use of these vessels. Our ruling in this matter is set forth below.

FACTS:

The Mountain Workshop is a U.S. company specializing in instruction in outdoor skills. It proposes to use its fleet of four Canadian-built Voyageur canoes for teaching navigation and seamanship. The waters in which this instruction would take place include those of the Long Island Sound, the Hudson River and the Maine coast. The admeasurement of these canoes does not equal or exceed five net tons.

ISSUE:

Whether the use of Canadian-built canoes of less than five net tons for instruction in navigation and seamanship in the above-described U.S. waters violates 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The U.S. Customs Service enforces various navigation laws which deal with the use of vessels in what is recognized as coastwise trade. Included among these laws is the Act of June 19, 1886, as amended (24 Stat. 81; 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289, sometimes called the coastwise passenger law), which 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.

Pursuant to ? 4.50(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR ? 4.50(b)), the word "passenger," for purposes of the above-cited statute, is defined as "...any person carried on a vessel who is not connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or business."

Customs has consistently interpreted the prohibition set forth in 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289 to apply to all vessels except United States-built, owned, and properly documented vessels (see 46 U.S.C. ? 12106, 12110; and 46 U.S.C. App. ? 883). Furthermore, Customs has promulgated regulations pursuant to 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289. These regulations may be found in title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, ? 4.80a.

The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the territorial sea, 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 coastline differ.

In regard to your inquiry, we note that pursuant to are of less than 5 net tons cannot be documented under the United States flag by the U.S. Coast Guard. However, such vessels are not precluded from engaging in the coastwise trade pursuant to ? 4.80(a)(2), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.80(a)(2)), provided they are otherwise considered to be coastwise-qualified (i.e., U.S.-built and owned).

Notwithstanding the applicability of ? 4.80(a)(2), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.80(a)(2)), to vessels of less than 5 net tons, we note that in our interpretation of 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289, Customs has long-held that a person transported on a vessel as a student in bona fide instructional courses in oceanography or sailing and navigation/seamanship, when the presence of that person is required on board the vessel as a part of his or her course or training, is not a passenger for purposes of the coastwise laws. (Customs ruling letter 108166, dated February 27, 1986) This is so regardless of whether a fee is charged for the aforementioned instruction.

Accordingly, the use of your company's foreign-built canoes as described above is not a use in the coastwise trade in violation of 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289.

HOLDING:

The use of Canadian-built canoes of less than five net tons for instruction in navigation and seamanship in the above-described U.S. waters does not violate 46 U.S.C. App. ? 289.

Sincerely,

Jerry Laderberg

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