46 U.S.C. App.  289; coastwise trade; passengers;employees of cruise ship

HQ 113804 January 17, 1997 VES-3-02/07-RR:IT:EC 113804 CC CATEGORY: Entry G. Michael Hubbard District Manager General Steamship Corporation, Ltd. 302 W. 5th Street, Suite 101 San Pedro, CA 90731-3208 RE: 46 U.S.C. App.  289; coastwise trade; passengers; employees of cruise ship Dear Mr. Hubbard: This is in response to your letter of December 26, 1996, concerning the voyage of the vessel CRYSTAL SYMPHONY. FACTS: You state that the Bahamian-flag vessel, the CRYSTAL SYMPHONY, will be arriving at the port of Los Angeles, where the vessel will initiate the commencement of its round-the-world cruise. Several functions on board the vessel will require the supervision of certain Crystal Cruise employees prior to arrival of the vessel at the port of Honolulu. There will be two Crystal Cruise staff members conducting these functions en route to Honolulu. You state these two staff members are the Vice President, Retail Department and a Retail Buyer, who will be on board in a working capacity conducting the ship's retail department's annual review. ISSUE: Whether the transportation of the two cruise ship employees on a foreign-flag vessel as described above constitutes a violation of 46 U.S.C. App.  289? LAW AND ANALYSIS: 46 U.S.C. App.  289, the passenger coastwise law, provides that "[n]o foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed." Pursuant to 19 CFR  4.80a and  4.50, the term passenger, for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289, is defined as "any person carried on a vessel who is not connected with the operation of such vessel, her navigation, ownership, or business." In a ruling issued to you, HQ 113463 of June 6, 1995, we stated , "[w]hile employees who are directly or immediately connected with the vessel's operation, navigation, ownership, or business may be exempt form passenger status under section 4.50(b), employees who are indirectly or remotely connected with the business of the vessel, such as those whose connection with the vessel does not go beyond being employed by the corporation that owns the ship, would not be exempt from passenger statute." We found in that ruling that the CRYSTAL SYMPHONY was a commercial vessel used in the cruise industry; the persons described in that letter were employees who were not deemed to be passengers because they were sufficiently connected with the business of the vessel. In your present request, you describe two employees of the cruise ship who will board the vessel in Los Angeles and disembark in Honolulu. You state that these employees will be on board in working capacity, and thus we assume their presence on the cruise is necessary to perform their work. Based on HQ 113463, these employees appear to be sufficiently connected to the business of the vessel to not be considered passengers. HOLDING: The above-referenced employees of the cruise ship are not passengers for purposes of 46 U.S.C. App.  289. Sincerely, Acting Chief Entry and Carrier Rulings Branch