[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 209 (Monday, October 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55685-55686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27596]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[Docket S-940]


Matson Navigation Company, Inc.; Notice of Application for 
Temporary Written Consent Pursuant to Section 506 of the Merchant 
Marine Act, 1936, as amended, for the Operation of the EWA in the 
Pacific Coast Shuttle Service

    Notice is hereby given that Matson Navigation Company, Inc. 
(Matson), a U.S company, by letter of October 16, 1996, requests 
temporary written consent pursuant to section 506 of the Merchant 
Marine Act, 1936, as amended (Act), for operation of the construction-
differential subsidy built containership EWA (ex-PRESIDENT TYLER) in 
the Pacific coast shuttle service commencing December 1, 1997, until 
March 2, 1997, when the EWA reaches 25 years of age. Matson is 
currently operating the EWA in a Pacific coast shuttle service. 
According to Matson, the instant request was necessitated by the fleet 
deployment required to accomplish the drydocking described below.
    Matson states that in order to comply with legal drydocking 
requirements of the Coast Guard and to maintain American Bureau of 
Shipping vessel classifications, it is in the process of rotating five 
of the six vessels purchased from American President Lines, Ltd. in 
January 1996 into a shipyard in Korea. The rotation, which includes the 
three C9 vessels (MAHIMAHI, ex-PRESIDENT WASHINGTON; MANOA, ex-
PRESIDENT LINCOLN; and MOKIHANA, ex-PRESIDENT MONROE) and two C8 
vessels (CHIEF GADAO, ex-PRESIDENT GRANT; and LIHUE, ex-PRESIDENT 
HOOVER), commenced in September 1996 and will not be

[[Page 55686]]

completed until February 1997. This drydocking schedule, Matson adds, 
will require both the CHIEF GADAO and LIHUE, which are no longer 
geographically restricted pursuant to section 506, to remain in the 
Pacific Alliance Service (U.S. Pacific Coast, Hawaii, Guam, Far East, 
U.S. Pacific Coast deployment) through February 1997 and thus be 
unavailable to substitute for the EWA in the Pacific coast shuttle 
service. Matson points out that, even if available, the CHIEF GADAO and 
LIHUE were specifically modified to carry the Pacific Alliance Service 
cargo package. The EWA was not so modified and does not have the 
required capacity configuration for deployment in the Pacific Alliance 
Service.
    It is Matson's view that grant of the requested permission will 
further the policy of the Act by promoting a U.S. merchant marine 
sufficient to carry the country's domestic water-borne commerce and a 
substantial portion of its foreign commerce. In this connection, Matson 
points out that the EWA will be carrying exclusively domestic cargo 
between Los Angeles, California; Oakland, California; and Seattle, 
Washington, in the course of foreign commerce voyages between 
Vancouver, B.C. and these U.S. Pacific coast ports.
    Matson believes that since no one besides Matson is providing an 
intercoastal service along the U.S. Pacific coast, the use of the EWA 
in the Pacific coast shuttle service cannot result in unfair 
competition to any domestic operator.
    Any person, firm, or corporation having any interest in the 
application for section 506 consent and desiring to submit comments 
concerning Weston's request must by the close of business on November 
12, 1996, file written comments in triplicate, to the Secretary, 
Maritime Administration, Room 7210, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. The Maritime Administration, as a 
matter of discretion, will consider any comments submitted and take 
such action as may be deemed appropriate.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 20.800 
Construction-Differential Subsidies (CDS))

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

    Dated: October 23, 1996.
Joel C. Richard,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-27596 Filed 10-25-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P