VES-3-16-CO:R:IT:C 112032 RAH
Mr. Louis B. Porteris, Esquire
4000 General de Gaulle Drive, Suite 300
New Orleans, Louisiana 70114
RE: Coastwise Trade; Pipe-laying; 46 U.S.C. App. 883;
Dear Mr. Porteris:
This is in response to your letter of December 12, 1991,
requesting permission for the use of a Launch Barge (Barge No.
"122") for charter by its owner to Exxon-Mobile Bay for the
laying of pipe in Mobile Bay, Alabama.
FACTS:
In your letter you state that the barge is presently located
at Port Arthur, Texas, and will be moved to J. Ray McDermott's
shipyard at Amelia, Louisiana, for minimal modifications. She
will then be moved from Amelia to Mobile Bay. The final intended
use of the barge is at anchor in navigable waters laying pipe.
The barge is owned by Sea Span Company of Vancouver, British
Columbia. She is registered under the flag of St. Vincent and
the Grenadines.
ISSUE:
Whether a foreign-flag barge may engage in the laying of
pipe within United States navigable waters without violating 46
U.S.C. App. 883.
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).
- 2 -
Points embraced within the coastwise laws include all points
within the territorial waters of the United States, including
points within a harbor. 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 the coastline
differ.
Customs has long held that the use of a vessel solely in
laying pipe is not considered a use in the coastwise trade of the
United States, even when the pipe is laid between two points in
the United States embraced within the coastwise laws.
Accordingly, the use of a foreign-flag barge to lay pipe in
Mobile Bay would not violate 46 U.S.C. App. 883.
Finally, the movement of the barge in ballast from Port
Arthur, Texas, to Mobile Bay would not be prohibited by the
coastwise laws.
HOLDING:
A foreign-flag barge may engage in the laying of pipe within
United States navigable waters without violating 46 U.S.C. App.
883.
Sincerely,
B. James Fritz
Chief
Carrier Rulings Branch