VES 3-02 RR:IT:EC 115066 RSD
Mr. Ken Kabb
North Coast Sailing School, LTD.
1401 Rockefeller Building
614 Superior Avenue, NW
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
RE: Coastwise Trade; Foreign-built Vessel; Sailing School; 46 U.S.C.
App. § 289
Dear Mr. Kabb:
This is in response to your letter dated June 1, 2000, regarding the proposed
use of your vessel, JADE MOON, for sailing instruction. Our ruling in this
matter is set forth below.
FACTS:
You state that you recently purchased a 33-foot sailboat, JADE MOON,
which was built in Taiwan in 1985. You intend to use the vessel on the
Great Lakes and coastal waters for sailing instruction. Your plan is to put the
vessel in service at the end of June and to change the documentation from
pleasure to registry.
ISSUE:
Whether the use of the JADE MOON for sailing instruction violates 46
U.S.C. App. § 289.
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 that is not
connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or
business.” 19 C.F.R. §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.
In our interpretation of 46 U.S.C. App. § 289, Customs has long-held that a
person transported on a vessel as a student in bona fide instructional
courses in oceanography, sailing and navigation/seamanship, and marine
history and science, when the presence of that person is required on board
the vessel as a part of his or her course or training, is not a passenger for
purposes of the coastwise laws (Customs ruling letters 108166, dated
February 27, 1986, and 114263, dated March 3, 1998). This is so
regardless of whether a fee is charged for the aforementioned instruction.
Accordingly, the use of the vessel, JADE MOON, for use in sailing instruction
would not violate the U.S. coastwise laws.
HOLDING:
The use of the JADE MOON for sailing instruction does not violate 46 U.S.C.
App. §289.
Sincerely,
Acting Chief,
Entry Procedures and Carriers Branch