VES-3-02 RR:IT:EC 114078 GG
Frank Abreu, Jr.
President
Norton Lilly Hawaii Inc./Kerr Norton Marine
680 Iwilei Road
Suite 670
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
RE: Coastwise laws; 46 U.S.C. App. 289; passengers; M/V CRYSTAL
HARMONY
Dear Mr. Abreu:
This is in response to your letter, dated October 22, 1997,
in which you ask for an interpretation of the coastwise laws with
particular reference to an upcoming voyage of Crystal Cruise
Line's M/V CRYSTAL HARMONY. Your company is an agent for Crystal
Cruise Lines.
FACTS:
The itinerary calls for the M/V CRYSTAL HARMONY, a Bahamian
flag vessel, to arrive in Los Angeles from Ensenada, Mexico, on
December 21, 1997. Passengers will embark in Los Angeles. The
vessel will then proceed to Hawaii, where the passengers will
make shore excursions at various Hawaiian ports. The vessel will
return to Los Angeles, via Ensenada, on January 6, 1998, for
passenger disembarkation. You ask whether the port call in
Ensenada may be eliminated if the passengers embark in Los
Angeles on December 21 and disembark there on January 6. You
have been advised by U.S. Customs in Los Angeles and Hawaii that
the proposed movement would violate the coastwise laws.
ISSUE:
Whether a foreign flag vessel may embark passengers at one
U.S. port, sail to another U.S. port for passenger excursions
ashore, and return to the original U.S. port, disembarking those
same passengers, and be in compliance with the U.S. coastwise
laws?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Title 46, United States Code Appendix, Section 289 ( 46
U.S.C. App. 289, the passenger coastwise law), 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 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. For purposes of
Section 289, "passenger" is defined as "... any person carried on
a vessel who is not connected with the operation of such vessel,
her navigation, ownership, or business." (19 CFR 4.50(b).)
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.
The proposed transaction, whereby passengers would board the
vessel in Los Angeles and proceed to various ports in Hawaii
before returning directly to Los Angeles, is precluded by Section
4.80a(b)((1) of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.80a(b)(1)).
This regulation provides that there is a violation of the
coastwise laws if passengers embark at one coastwise port on a
voyage solely to one or more coastwise ports, and then disembark
or go ashore temporarily at a coastwise port. "Coastwise ports"
are defined in 19 CFR 4.80a(a)(1) as ports in the U.S., its
territories, or possessions embraced within the coastwise laws.
It would be a clear violation for passengers to embark at Los
Angeles, make temporary shore visits in Hawaii, and then return
directly to Los Angeles for disembarkation.
The itinerary as currently scheduled, which has the M/V
CRYSTAL HARMONY calling at Ensenada, Mexico, before returning to
Los Angeles, would make this voyage acceptable in terms of
compliance with the coastwise laws. This is because a planned
visit to a nearby foreign port in the course of the journey would
render the voyage one that was not solely to one or more
coastwise ports.
HOLDING:
The transportation of passengers aboard a non-coastwise-qualified vessel solely between one or more coastwise ports, with
shore excursions and no intervening foreign port of call,
constitutes a violation of 46 U.S.C. App. 289.
Sincerely,
Jerry Laderberg
Chief
Entry Procedures and Carriers
Branch