A new US Coast Guard field notice confirmed this is not allowed since it violates coastwise trading rules under the Passenger Vessel Services Act.
The notice said US Customs and Border Patrol has consistently held that these non-coastwise-qualified boats may be used only as tenders and, as such, need to meet all these conditions: They must arrive and depart US territorial waters on the cruise ship, must be used solely to transport passengers between ship and shore and may be used only when the CBP port director is satisfied it's not safe or feasible for the cruise ship to berth at a pier.
'Other types of voyages, for example coastal sightseeing excursions, are not considered appropriate for such tenders and should be undertaken by [vessels] that meet the requirements for passenger ships of the coastal state,' the notice from the USCG Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise said.
The notice also stated tenders are considered different from excursion vessels. Excursion vessels carry passengers from ships and engage in operations like sightseeing and nature viewing, and aren't solely transferring passengers between ship and shore.
'The terms "tender" and "excursion vessel" have different meanings and are not interchangeable for these different operations,' according to USCG. The field notice concluded that 'the issuance of a certificate of compliance on vessels being used for excursion activities that are on board and provided by the foreign passenger vessel is currently not authorized.'
As earlier reported, last summer Seabourn substituted locally sourced catamarans for the ship's Zodiacs for the Ventures by Seabourn program in Alaska after a regulator questioned the operation under coastwise trade regulations.
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