The term "carrying on the business of forwarding" means the dispatching of shipments by any person on behalf of others, by ocean-going common carriers in commerce from the United States, its Territories, or possessions to foreign countries, or between the United States and its Territories or possessions, or between such Territories and possessions, and handling the formalities incident to such shipments. An "independent ocean freight forwarder" is a person carrying on the business of forwarding for a consideration who is not a shipper or consignee or a seller or purchaser of shipments to foreign countries, nor has any beneficial interest therein, nor directly or indirectly controls or is controlled by such shipper or consignee or by any person having such a beneficial interest. 46 § 802. Corporation, partnership, or association as citizen (a) Within the meaning of this chapter no corporation, partnership, or association shall be deemed a citizien of the United States unless the controlling interest therein is owned by citizens of the United States, and, in the case of a corporation, unless its president or other chief executive officer and the chairman of its board of directors are citizens of the United States and unless no more of its directors than a minority of the number necessary to constitute a quorum are noncitizens and the corporation itself is organized under the laws of the United States or of a State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, but in the case of a corporation, association, or partnership operating any vessel in the coastwise trade the amount of interest required to be owned by citizens of the United States shall be 75 per centum. (b) The controlling interest in a corporation shall not be deemed to be owned by citizens of the United States (a) if the title to a majority of the stock thereof is not vested in such citizens free from any trust or fiduciary obligation in favor of any person not a citizen of the United States; or (b) if the majority of the voting power in such corporation is not vested in citizens of the United States; or (c) if through any contract or understanding it is so arranged that the majority of the voting power may be exercised, directly or indirectly, in behalf of any person who is not a citizen of the United States; or, (d) if by any other means whatsoever control of the corporation is conferred upon or permitted to be exercised by any person who is not a citizen of the United States. (c) Seventy-five per centum of the interest in a corporation shall not be deemed to be owned by citizens of the United States (a) if the title to 75 per centum of its stock is not vested in such citizens free from any trust or fiduciary obligation in favor of any person not a citizen of the United States; or (b) if 75 per centum of the voting power in such corporation is not vested in citizens of the United States; or (c) if, through any contract or understanding, it is so arranged that more than 25 per centum of the voting power in such corporation may be exercised, directly or indirectly, in behalf of any person who is not a citizen of the United States; or (d) if by any other means whatsoever control of any interest in the corporation in excess of 25 per centum is conferred upon or permitted to be exercised by any person who is not a citizen of the United States. 46 § 808. Registration, enrollment, and licensing of vessels purchased, chartered, or leased; regulations; coastwise trade Any vessel purchased, chartered, or leased from the Secretary of Commerce, by persons who are citizens of the United States, may be registered or enrolled and licensed, or both registered and enrolled and licensed, as a vessel of the United States and entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining thereto: Provided, That foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry or enrollment and license under this chapter, and vessels owned by any corporation in which the United States is a stockholder, and vessels sold, leased, or chartered by the Secretary to any person a citizen of the United States, as provided in this chapter, may engage in the coastwise trade of the United States while owned, leased, or chartered by such a person. Every vessel purchased, chartered, or leased from the Secretary shall, unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary, be operated only under such registry or enrollment and license. Such vessels while employed solely as merchant vessels shall be subject to all laws, regulations, and liabilities governing merchant vessels, whether the United States be interested therein as owner, in whole or in part, or hold any mortgage, lien, or other interest therein. Except as provided in section 1181 of this title, it shall be unlawful, without the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, to sell, mortage, lease, charter, deliver, or in any manner transfer, or agree to sell, mortgage, lease, charter, deliver, or in any manner transfer, to any person not a citizen of the United States, or transfer or place under foreign registry or flag, any vessel or any interest therein owned in whole or in part by a citizen of the United States and documented under the laws of the United States, or the last documentation of which was under the laws of the United States. The issuance, transfer, or assignment of a bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness which is secured by a mortgage of a vessel to a trustee or by an assignment to a trustee of the owner's right, title, or interest in a vessel under construction, to a person not a citizen of the United States, without the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, is unlawful unless the trustee or a substitute trustee of such mortgage or assignment is approved by the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce shall grant his approval if such trustee or a substitute trustee is a bank or trust company which (1) is organized as a corporation, and is doing business, under the laws of the United States or any State thereof, (2) is authorized under such laws to exercise corporate trust powers, (3) is a citizen of the United States, (4) is subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authority, and (5) has a combined capital and surplus (as set forth in its most recent published report of condition) of at least $3,000,000. If such trustee or a substitute trustee at any time ceases to meet the foregoing qualifications, the Secretary of Commerce shall disapprove such trustee or substitute trustee, and after such disapproval the transfer or assignment of such bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness to a person not a citizen of the United States, without the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, shall be unlawful. The trustee or substitute trustee approved by the Secretary of Commerce shall not operate the vessel under the mortgage or assignment without the approval of the Secretary of Commerce. If a bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness which is secured by a mortgage of a vessel to a trustee or by an assignment to a trustee of the owner's right, title, or interest in a vessel under construction, is issued, transferred, or assigned to a person not a citizen of the United States in violation of this section, the issuance, transfer or assignment shall be void. Any such vessel, or any interest therein, chartered, sold, transferred, or mortgaged to a person not a citizen of the United States or placed under a foreign registry or flag, or operated, in violation of any provision of this section shall be forfeited to the United States, and whoever violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $5,000, or to imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. 46 § 840. Documented vessels Any vessel registered, enrolled, or licensed under the laws of the United States shall be deemed to continue to be documented under the laws of the United States within the meaning of subdivision (b) of section 835 of this title, until such registry, enrollment, or license is surrendered with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, the provisions of any other Act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. Sec. 881. 882. 883. Chapter 24.-MERCHANT MARINE ACT, 1920 [Extracts] Classification of vessels by American Bureau of Shipping. Transportation of merchandise between points in United States in other 46 881. Classification of vessels by American Bureau of Shipping For the classification of vessels owned by the United States, and for such other purposes in connection therewith as are the proper functions of a classification bureau, all departments, boards, bureaus, and commissions of the Government are directed to recognize the American Bureau of Shipping as their agency so long as the American Bureau of Shipping continues to be maintained as an organization which has no capital stock and pays no dividends: Provided, That the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of Commerce shall each appoint one representative who shall represent the Government upon the executive committee of the American Bureau of Shipping, and the bureau shall agree that these representatives shall be accepted by them as active members of such committee. Such representatives of the Government shall serve without any compensation, except necessary traveling expenses: Provided further, That the official list of merchant vessels published by the Government shall contain a notation clearly indicating all vessels classed by the American Bureau of Shipping. 46 § 882. Number of passengers cargo vessels may carry Cargo vessels documented under the laws of the United States may carry not to exceed sixteen persons in addition to the crew between any ports or places in the United States or its Districts, Territories, or possessions, or between any such port or place and any foreign port, or from any foreign port to another foreign port, and such vessels shall not be held to be "passenger vessels" or "vessels carrying passengers" within the meaning of the inspection laws and the rules and regulations thereunder: Provided, That nothing herein shall be taken to exempt such vessels from the laws, rules, and regulations respecting life-saving equipment: Provided further, That when any such vessel carries persons other than the crew as herein provided for, the owner, agent, or master of the vessel shall first notify such persons of the presence on board of any dangerous articles, as defined by law, or of any other condition or circumstance which would constitute a risk of safety for passenger or crew. The privilege bestowed by this section on vessels of the United States shall be extended insofar as the foreign trade is concerned to the cargo vessels of any nation which allows the like privilege to cargo vessels of the United States in trades not restricted to vessels under its own flag. Failure on the part of the owner, agent, or master of the vessel to give such notice shall subject the vessel to a penalty of $500, which may be mitigated or remitted by the Commandant of the Coast Guard upon a proper representation of the facts. 46 § 883. Transportation of merchandise between points in United States in other than domestic-built or rebuilt and documented vessels No merchandise shall be transported by water, or by land and water, on penalty of forfeiture thereof, between points in the United States, including Districts, Territories, and possessions thereof embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, in any other vessel 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, or vessels to which the privilege of engaging in the coastwise trade is extended by section 13 or 808 of this title: Provided, That no vessel having at any time acquired the lawful right to engage in the coastwise trade, either by virtue of having been built in, or documented under the laws of the United States, and later sold foreign in whole or in part, or placed under foreign registry, shall hereafter acquire the right to engage in the coastwise trade: Provided further, That no vessel of more than five hundred gross tons which has acquired the lawful right to engage in the coastwise trade, by virtue of having been built in or documented under the laws of the United States, and which has later been rebuilt, shall have the right thereafter to engage in the coastwise trade, unless the entire rebuilding, including the construction of any major components of the hull or superstructure of the vessel, is effected within the United States, its Territories (not including trust territories), or its possessions: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to merchandise transported between points within the continental United States, including Alaska, over through routes heretofore or hereafter recognized by the Interstate Commerce Commission for which routes rate tariffs have been or shall hereafter be filed with said Commission when such routes are in part over Canadian rail lines and their own or other connecting water facilities: Provided further, That this section shall not become effective upon the Yukon River until the Alaska Railroad shall be completed and the Secretary of Commerce shall find that proper facilities will be furnished for transportation by persons citizens of the United States for properly handling the traffic: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to the transportation of merchandise loaded on railway cars or to motor vehicles with or without trailers, and with their passengers or contents when accompanied by the operator thereof, when such railroad cars or motor vehicles are transported in any railroad car ferry operated between fixed termini on the Great Lakes as a part of a rail route, if such car ferry is owned by a common carrier by water and operated as part of a rail route with the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and if the stock of such common carrier by water, or its predecessor, was owned or controlled by a common carrier by rail prior to June 5, 1920, and if the stock of the common carrier owning such car ferry is, with the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission, now owned or controlled by any common carrier by rail and if such car ferry is built and documented under laws of the United States: Provided further, That upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury by regulation may prescribe, and, if the transporting vessel is of foreign registry, upon a finding by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to information obtained and furnished by the Secretary of State, that the government of the nation of registry extends reciprocal privileges to vessels of the United States, this section shall not apply to the transportation by vessels of the United States not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade, or by vessels of foreign registry, of (a) empty cargo vans, empty lift vans, and empty shipping tanks, (b) equipment for use with cargo vans, lift vans, or shipping tanks, (c) empty barges specifically designed for carriage aboard a vessel and equipment, excluding propulsion equipment, for use with such barges, and (d) any empty instrument for international traffic exempted from application of the customs laws by the |