Find Legal Information

It shall be unlawful to award or pay any subsidy to any contractor under authority of part A of subchapter VI of this chapter, or to charter any vessel to any person under subchapter VII of this chapter if said contractor or charterer, or any holding company, subsidiary, affiliate, or associate of such contractor or charterer, or any officer, director, agent, or executive thereof, directly or indirectly, shall own, operate, or charter any vessel or vessels engaged in the domestic intercoastal or coastwise service, or own any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any person or concern that owns, charters, or operates any vessel or vessels in the domestic intercoastal or coastwise service, without the written permission of the Secretary of Transportation. Every person, firm, or corporation having any interest in such application shall be permitted to intervene and the Secretary of Transportation shall give a hearing to the applicant and the intervenors. The Secretary of Transportation shall not grant any such application if the Secretary of Transportation finds it will result in unfair competition to any person, firm, or corporation operating exclusively in the coastwise or intercoastal service or that it would be prejudicial to the objects and policy of this chapter: Provided, That if such contractor or other person above-described or a predecessor in interest was in bona-fide operation as a common carrier by water in the domestic, intercoastal, or coastwise trade in 1935 over the route or routes or in the trade or trades for which application is made and has so operated since that time or if engaged in furnishing seasonal service only, was in bona-fide operation in 1935 during the season ordinarily covered by its operation, except in either event, as to interruptions of service over which the applicant or its predecessor in interest had no control, the Secretary of Transportation shall grant such permission without requiring further proof that public interest and convenience will be served by such operation, and without further proceedings as to the competition in such route or trade.

If such application be allowed, it shall be unlawful for any of the persons mentioned in this section to divert, directly or indirectly, any moneys, property, or other thing of value, used in foreign-trade operations, for which a subsidy is paid by the United States, into any such coastwise or intercoastal operations; and whosoever shall violate this provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Whenever any contractor under part A of subchapter VI of this chapter or subchapter VII of this chapter receiving an operating-differential subsidy is in default with respect to any mortgage, note, purchase contract, or other obligation to the Secretary of Transportation, or has not maintained, in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary of Transportation, all of the reserves provided for in this chapter, the Secretary of Transportation shall have the right to supervise the number and compensation of all officers and employees of the contractor.

It shall be unlawful, without express written consent of the Secretary of Transportation, for any contractor holding a contract authorized under part A of subchapter VI or ^[1] VII of this chapter to employ any other person or concern as the managing or operating agent of such operator, or to charter any vessel, on which an operating-differential subsidy is to be paid, for operation by another person or concern, and if such charter is made, the person or concern operating the chartered vessel or vessels shall be subject to all the terms and provisions of this chapter, including limitations of profits and salaries.

Any willful violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a breach of the contract or charter in force under this chapter, and upon determining that such a violation has occurred the Secretary of Transportation may forthwith declare such contract or charter rescinded and any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.