HQ 109633: Applicability of the coastwise laws to the use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a barge upon which a billboard is placed

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                                      HQ 109633

                                   August 15, 1988

          VES-3 CO:R:P:C  109633 PH

          CATEGORY:  Carriers

          Mr. Leonard E. Levin
          Outdoor Advertising/Real Estate
          Post Office Box 69
          Camden, New Jersey 08101-0069

          RE:  Applicability of the coastwise laws to the use in United
          States waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, of a barge upon
          which a billboard is placed

          Dear Mr. Levin:

              In your letter of July 8, 1988, you request a ruling on
          whether a floating barge upon which a billboard would be placed
          would be determined to be in the coastwise trade and whether the
          vessel could be numbered with the State of New Jersey.

          FACTS:

              You state that you are trying to get approval to place a
          billboard on a floating barge in the "Great Thorofare" within the
          boundaries of Atlantic City, New Jersey.  You state that the
          barge would be moored and that it could be moved, if required.
          The only item on the barge would be the billboard.  You ask if
          the barge would be determined to be engaged in the coastwise
          trade or if it could be documented with the State of New Jersey.

              With regard to the question of documenting the barge with the
          State of New Jersey (under a State number, we assume, see 33 CFR
          Parts 173 and 174), we defer to the United States Coast Guard.
          Questions of vessel documentation are within the jurisdiction of
          that Agency.  If you wish to ask the Coast Guard about this
          topic, you may contact your local Coast Guard office or write to:

                    Mr. Thomas Willis
                    Chief, Vessel Documentation
                    U.S. Coast Guard (GMVI-6/13)
                    2100 Second Street, SW. (Room 1312)
                    Washington, D.C. 20593-0001















                                        - 2 -


          ISSUE:

              Is the use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New
          Jersey, of a floating barge upon which a billboard is placed a
          use in the coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883?

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

              Section 27 of the Act of June 5, 1920, as amended (41 Stat.
          999; 46 U.S.C. App. 883, often called the Jones Act), provides
          that:

                    No merchandise shall be transported by water, or by
                    land and water, on penalty of forfeiture of the
                    merchandise (or a monetary amount up to the value
                    thereof ...), between points in the United States ...
                    embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or
                    via a foreign port, or for any part of the transporta-
                    tion, in any other vessel 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
                    ....

              We have ruled on an issue similar to that raised in this
          case.  In a ruling dated June 11, 1984 (File No. 106665), copy
          enclosed, we held that "[t]he operation in United States coastal
          waters of a vessel equipped with an electric advertising sign ...
          is not a use of the vessel in the coastwise trade, if the adver-
          tising sign is placed on the vessel and taken off the vessel at
          the same coastwise point or the advertising sign is permanently
          affixed to the vessel."

              In this case as well, the barge would not be considered to be
          engaged in coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883 when
          used in the waters off Atlantic City to display a billboard,
          provided, that the billboard is permanently placed on the barge
          or that it is placed on the barge and removed from the barge at
          the same point.  If the billboard is placed on the barge at one
          point in the United States and removed from the barge at another
          such point, it would be considered to be transported in the
          coastwise trade subject to section 883.

              In addition to 46 U.S.C. App. 883, the coastwise towing law
          may be applicable to the operation you are considering.  This law
          (section 4370 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (R.S. 4370; 46
          U.S.C. App. 316(a))), prohibits the towing of any vessel, other
          than a vessel in distress, by a vessel not documented under the
          United States flag to engage in the coastwise or Great Lakes
          trade between ports or places in the United States embraced












                                        - 3 -


          within the coastwise laws, either directly or by way of a foreign
          port or place, or for any part of such towing, or such towing be-
          tween points in a harbor of the United States.  This law would
          prohibit the towing of the barge under consideration between
          points in the United States, including points in United States
          territorial waters, by any vessel other than a vessel qualified
          for the coastwise or Great Lakes trade.

          HOLDING:

              The use in United States waters off Atlantic City, New
          Jersey, of a floating barge upon which a billboard is placed is
          not a use in the coastwise trade subject to 46 U.S.C. App. 883,
          provided, that the billboard is permanently placed on the barge
          or that it is placed on the barge and removed from the barge at
          the same point.

                                        Sincerely,




                                        B. James Fritz
                                        Chief
                                        Carrier Rulings Branch
          Enclosure