HQ 111713: Coastwise; Towing; Northern Mariana Islands; CNMI; 46 U.S.C. App. 316.

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 111713

                         August 7, 1991

VES-3   CO:R:IT:C  111713  JBW

CATEGORY:   Carriers

Elizabeth Robertson, Esq.
Klemm, Blair, Sterling & Johnson
Suite 1008 Pacific News Building
238 Archbishop F. C. Flores Street
Agaa, Guam 96910

RE:  Coastwise; Towing; Northern Mariana Islands; CNMI; 46 U.S.C.
     App. 316.

Dear Ms. Robertson:

     This letter is in response to your inquiry of May 10, 1991,
in which you request a ruling on the application of the coastwise
towing statute, 46 U.S.C. App. 316, to movements of foreign-
built, foreign-owned tugboats between points in the harbor at
Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

FACTS:

     As stated in your letter, a CNMI corporation intends to
employ a foreign-built, foreign-registered tugboat to conduct
harbor movements and pilotage services in and around the harbor
at Saipan.  The vessel is Japanese-built with a Panamanian
registry.

ISSUE:

     Whether the towing operation of a foreign-built, foreign-
registered tugboat between points in the CNMI is a violation of
the coastwise towing statute, 46 U.S.C. App. 316.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The coastwise laws of the United States prohibit the
transportation of merchandise between points in the United States
embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via 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. 46 U.S.C.A. App.
883 (West Supp. 1991)(referred to as "the Jones Act").  Further,
Section 316(a) of Title 46, United States Code Appendix,
prohibits the use of a non-coastwise-qualified vessel to tow any
vessel, other than a vessel in distress, between ports or places
in the United States embraced within the coastwise laws, either
directly or by way of a foreign port, or to do any part of such
towing, or to tow any such vessel between points in a harbor of
the United States.   46 U.S.C.A. App. 316(a) (West Supp. 1991).
Generally, the coastwise and towing laws apply to points within
the territorial sea of the United States, 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.  Headquarters Ruling Letter 111275, dated
November 13, 1990.

     Sections 502(b) and 503(b) of the "Covenant to Establish a
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union
with the United States of America," Pub. L. No. 94-241, as
amended, 90 Stat. 263 (1976) (48 U.S.C.A. 1681 note (1987)),
provide in part that, except for activities of the United States
Government and its contractors in the CNMI, the coastwise laws do
not apply to the CNMI.  Consequently, the coastwise laws,
described above, would not prohibit the use of a non-coastwise-
qualified vessel from conducting towing or pilotage services in
the CNMI.  Moreover, no other law administered by the Customs
Service prohibits such activity.

HOLDING:

     The coastwise towing statute does not prohibit a foreign-
built, foreign-registered tugboat from engaging in towing
operations between points in the CNMI.



                              Sincerely,



                              B. James Fritz
                              Chief
                              Carrier Rulings Branch