HQ 111597: Vessel Repair; Heavy Weather; PRESIDENT KENNEDY; Entry No. C27-0189093-4; 19 U.S.C. 1466; 19 C.F.R. 4.14(d)(1)(iii).

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 111597

                         August 5, 1991

VES-13-18   CO:R:IT:C  111597  JBW

CATEGORY:   Carriers

Chief, Technical Branch
Commercial Operations
Pacific Region
1 World Trade Center
Long Beach, CA 90831

RE:  Vessel Repair; Heavy Weather; PRESIDENT KENNEDY; Entry No.
     C27-0189093-4; 19 U.S.C. 1466; 19 C.F.R. 4.14(d)(1)(iii).

Dear Sir:

     This letter is in response to your memorandum of March 19,
1991, which forwards for our review the application for relief
filed in conjunction with the above-referenced vessel repair
entry.

FACTS:

     The record reflects that the subject vessel, the PRESIDENT
KENNEDY, arrived at the port of San Pedro, California, on
January 12, 1991.  Vessel repair entry, number C27-0189093-4, was
filed on the same day as arrival.  The entry indicates that
foreign repairs were made to the vessel to repair damages caused
by heavy weather encountered during the voyage of the vessel from
Oakland, California, to Yokohama, Japan.  The documentation
submitted indicates that damage to the vessel occurred on
December 21, 1991. The vessel log and damage reports indicate
that the vessel encountered 45 knot winds, which gusted to 65
knots.  The seas were described as very rough.  The master's
statement notes that the bow of the vessel took a "deep dive" and
that the vessel was "rolling violently."  Repairs to the vessel
included damages to the starboard anchor and hawsepipe.

ISSUE:

     Whether the evidence submitted demonstrates that the repairs
performed to the ship in a foreign shipyard were necessitated by
stress of weather and were necessary to secure the safety and
seaworthiness of the vessel.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Title 19, United States Code, section 1466, provides in
pertinent part for payment of duty in the amount of 50 percent ad
valorem on the cost of foreign repairs to vessels documented
under the laws of the United States to engage in foreign or
coastwise trade, or vessels intended to engage in such trade.
The statute provides for the remission of the above duties in
those instances where good and sufficient evidence is furnished
to show that foreign repairs were compelled by "stress of weather
or other casualty" and were necessary to secure the safety and
seaworthiness of the vessel to enable her to reach her port of
destination.  19 U.S.C. 1466(d)(1).

     Customs Regulations require that certain supporting
evidence be submitted with an application for relief for damages
resulting from stress of weather.  This evidence includes
photocopies of the relevant parts of the vessel's logs,
certification of any claimed casualty by the master or other
responsible vessel officer with personal knowledge of the facts,
and a certification by the master that the repairs were necessary
for the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel to enable her to
reach her port of destination in the United States.  19 C.F.R.
4.14(d)(1)(iii)(D)-(F) (1989).

     In Treasury Decision 78-180, we set out guidelines to be
used when relief is requested on the basis that the vessel
encountered high winds. T.D. 78-180, 12 Cust. B. & Dec. 382
(1978).  We held that winds of force 9 on the Beaufort Scale, a
numerical scale rating winds according to ascending velocity from
zero (calm) to twelve (hurricane), accompanied by a reasonable
description of the conditions and verified as required in the
regulations, raise a presumption that damages caused were due to
stress of weather.  Id.  The damage reports filed by the ship's
master and the vessel log indicate winds of up to force 11.  The
log entries during the periods during which the damages occurred
note that the vessel encountered large swells and heavy seas.
This evidence appears sufficient to support the applicant's claim
that the damages for which relief is sought resulted from the
weather conditions described.

     As noted above, to claim remission because of stress of
weather, the applicant must demonstrate not only that the foreign
repairs were compelled by stress of weather, but also that the
repairs were necessary for the safety and seaworthiness of the
vessel.  Such evidence may take the form of a certificate
furnished by the master as required by the regulation.
Notwithstanding claims in the applicant's letter, the record in
this case does not contain certification or any other statement
by the master that the repairs were necessary for the safety and
seaworthiness of the vessel to enable her to reach her United
States port of destination.  The application for relief,
therefore, must be denied.

HOLDING:

     This evidence appears sufficient to support the applicant's
claim that the damages for which relief is sought resulted from
the weather conditions described.  However, absent a
certification or other statement by the master that the repairs
were necessary for the safety and seaworthiness of the vessel,
the foreign work for which the applicant seeks relief is
dutiable under 19 U.S.C. 1466.


                              Sincerely,



                              B. James Fritz
                              Chief
                              Carrier Rulings Branch