[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1559 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1559

  To amend the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to provide that certain 
   information be provided before a vessel arrives in United States 
                                waters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2001

   Ms. Snowe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to provide that certain 
   information be provided before a vessel arrives in United States 
                                waters.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transparent Sea Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. PREARRIVAL MESSAGES FROM VESSELS DESTINED TO UNITED STATES 
              PORTS.

    Section 4(a)(5) of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (33 U.S.C. 
1223(a)(5)) is amended by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 
following:
            ``(5)(A) may require the receipt of prearrival messages 
        from any vessel destined for a port or place subject to the 
        jurisdiction of the United States, not later than 96 hours 
        before the vessel's arrival or such time as deemed necessary 
        under regulations promulgated by the Secretary to thoroughly 
        examine all information provided, which shall include with 
        respect to the vessel--
                    ``(i) the route and name of each port and each 
                place of destination in the United States;
                    ``(ii) the estimated date and time of arrival at 
                each port or place;
                    ``(iii) the name of the vessel;
                    ``(iv) the country of registry of the vessel;
                    ``(v) the call sign of the vessel;
                    ``(vi) the International Maritime Organization 
                (IMO) international number or, if the vessel does not 
                have an assigned IMO international number, the official 
                number of the vessel;
                    ``(vii) the name of the registered owner of the 
                vessel;
                    ``(viii) the name of the operator of the vessel;
                    ``(ix) the name of the classification society of 
                the vessel;
                    ``(x) a general description of the cargo on board 
                the vessel;
                    ``(xi) in the case of certain dangerous cargo--
                            ``(I) the name and description of the 
                        dangerous cargo;
                            ``(II) the amount of the dangerous cargo 
                        carried;
                            ``(III) the stowage location of the 
                        dangerous cargo; and
                            ``(IV) the operational condition of the 
                        equipment under section 164.35 of title 33 of 
                        the Code of Federal Regulations;
                    ``(xii) the date of departure and name of the port 
                from which the vessel last departed;
                    ``(xiii) the name and telephone number of a 24-hour 
                point of contact for each port included in the notice 
                of arrival;
                    ``(xiv) the location or position of the vessel at 
                the time of the report;
                    ``(xv) a list of crew members onboard the vessel 
                including with respect to each crew member--
                            ``(I) the full name;
                            ``(II) the date of birth;
                            ``(III) the nationality;
                            ``(IV) the passport number or mariners 
                        document number; and
                            ``(V) the position or duties;
                    ``(xvi) a list of persons other than crew members 
                onboard the vessel including with respect to each such 
                person--
                            ``(I) the full name;
                            ``(II) the date of birth;
                            ``(III) the nationality; and
                            ``(IV) the passport number; and
                    ``(xvii) any other information required by the 
                Secretary; and
            ``(B) any changes to the information required by 
        subparagraph (A), except changes in the arrival or departure 
        time of less than six hours, must be reported as soon as 
        practicable but not less than 24 hours before entering the port 
        of destination.
The Secretary may deny entry of a vessel into the territorial sea of 
the United States if the Secretary has not received notification for 
the vessel in accordance with paragraph (5).''.
                                 <all>