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HQ 116195





April 27, 2004

VES-3-RR:IT:EC 116195 IDL

CATEGORY: CARRIER

Amit Wahi

Titan Maritime, LLC

P.O. Box 350465

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33335

RE: Coastwise Trade; 46 U.S.C. App. 883, 289, 316

Dear Mr. Wahi:

This is in response to your correspondence, dated March 23, 2004, requesting a determination whether the use of a non-U.S. flag and non-U.S. built jack-up barge in U.S. waters as a fixed location observation point/weather station violates the coastwise laws. Our ruling on this matter is set forth below.

FACTS:

Titan Maritime, LLC (“Titan”) operates a non-coastwise-qualified, three-legged jack-up barge, known as the “KATJA”, which flies the Belize flag. It has an International Loadline Certificate, and all relevant certification as required by the laws of Belize for an unmanned, non-propelled jack-up barge.

The Long Island Power Authority (“LIPA”) is in the advanced stages of investigating a wind turbine farm installation off Jones Beach, NY. As part of its feasibility study, LIPA’s project managers have identified a need to have a fixed, stable weather and data collection station on-site for a duration of one to two years beginning in mid-2004. Titan is working with one of the potential developers of the project, and is considering prospective employment for the KATJA to be used in this capacity.

After towage to an offshore destination point, the KATJA would remain on station with very limited human intervention. With the assistance of a human operator, the KATJA is designed to jack itself up. Upon completion of the jack-up process, which can take several hours, the operator locks the jack. Human access to the platform would be limited to times of jacking-up, jacking-down, scheduled maintenance/emergency repairs of machinery and equipment onboard, replenishment of consumables and data retrieval from the anemometry and marine data gathering equipment. No persons would live on board. Neither cargo nor passengers would be transported at any time. Neither marine salvage work nor actual installation work related to the wind farms would be carried out from the platform.

The KATJA would not be affected by average changes in weather and surf conditions. In cases of severe weather, the KATJA would be jacked-down and towed into port until the weather improved, at which time it would be towed back to its offshore location to continue gathering data.

ISSUE:

Whether the use of the “KATJA” as a fixed location observation point/weather station, as described above, would violate 46 U.S.C. App. 883, 289, 316 or other statutes covering the coastwise laws?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Title 46, United States Code Appendix, section 883 (46 U.S.C. App. 883, the coastwise merchandise statute often called the "Jones Act"), provides in part, that no merchandise shall be transported between points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, 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 (i.e., a coastwise-qualified vessel).

Title 46, United States Code Appendix, section 289 (46 U.S.C. App. 289, the passenger coastwise statute), prohibits the transportation of passengers between points embraced within the coastwise laws of the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, in a non-coastwise-qualified vessel.

Section 316(a) of Title 46, United States Code Appendix (46 U.S.C. App. 316(a)) 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.

Generally, the coastwise 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. HQ 111712 (August 7, 1991); HQ 111275 (November 13, 1990).

Since the KATJA would neither be used as a transporter of passengers or merchandise, nor as a towing vessel, the use of the KATJA in providing the service described above would not violate 46 U.S.C. App. 883, 289, 316. From the information provided, it is apparent that no violations would occur with respect to any other statutes covering the coastwise laws that are administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). We note that any vessels towing the KATJA must be coastwise-qualified, as they would fall within the scope of 46 U.S.C. App. 316(a).

HOLDING:

The use of the “KATJA” in U.S. waters as a fixed location observation point/weather station, as described above, would not violate 46 U.S.C. App. 883, 289, 316. Furthermore, the information provided indicates that no violations would arise pertaining to the other statutes covering the coastwise laws that are administered by CBP.

Sincerely,

Glen E. Vereb
Chief,

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