HQ 112866: Coastwise Trade; Cable-Laying; 46 U.S.C. app. 883.

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 112866

                           August 31, 1993

VES-3-16-CO:R:IT:C  112866 DEC

CATEGORY:  Carriers

Mr. Earl P. Verrett
Conventional Manager
P.O. Drawer 51789
Aries Marine Corporation
Lafayette, Louisiana  70505

RE:  Coastwise Trade; Cable-Laying; 46 U.S.C. app.  883.

Dear Mr. Verrett:

     Reference is made to your facsimile transmittal of August 25,
1993, in which you inquired as to the legality of utilizing a
foreign-built vessel in your cable laying operations off the coastal
waters of Alaska.


FACTS:

     The Aries Marine Corporation operates the Panamanian-flag M/V
RAMBO.  The operators of the M/V RAMBO wish to use the vessel in a
fiber optic cable laying operation at the United States Navy's
Seafac facility near Ketchikan, Alaska.  In support of its request,
Aries Marine states that the M/V RAMBO will engage only in the cable
laying operation and will carry no cargo or passengers.  The vessel
will sail from Seattle, Washington to the work site, complete its
operations, and return to Seattle.  Aries Marine is requesting
comment as to whether this proposed operation would violate United
States coastwise laws.


ISSUE:  

     Whether a non-coastwise-qualified  vessel may engage in cable-
laying operations in U.S. 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 

                                 -2-


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).

     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 or cable is not considered a use in the coastwise trade of the
United States, even when the pipe or cable is laid between two
points in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws. 
C.S.D. 79-321.  Accordingly, the use of a foreign-flag vessel to lay
pipe or cable in a coastwise location would not violate 46 U.S.C.
app.  883.


HOLDING:

     In accordance with the Law and Analysis section of this ruling,
the use of a non-coastwise-qualified  vessel to engage in the laying
of fiber optic cable is permissible under the coastwise laws.
                
                                Sincerely,




                                Acting Chief