Long title | An Act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes. |
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Enacted by | the 49th United States Congress |
Effective | June 19, 1886 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L. 49–421 |
Statutes at Large | 24 Stat. 79, Chap. 421 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 46 U.S.C.: Shipping |
U.S.C. sections created | 46 U.S.C. § 55103 |
Legislative history | |
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The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, sometimes abbreviated to PVSA, Passenger Services Act, or PSA, is a protectionist piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage. Essentially, it says:[citation needed]
No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed.
As a result, all vessels that have engaged in the coastwise trade have been required to be coastwise-qualified (i.e., U.S.-built, owned, and documented). Under the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 (46 USC § 55103), non-coastwise-qualified vessels cannot transport passengers directly between U.S. ports. Generally, a passenger is any person carried on a vessel who is not directly and substantially connected with the operation of such vessel, its navigation, ownership, or business. The precise definition of what constitutes a U.S. port ("coastwise point") includes artificial islands and similar structures, as well as to mobile oil drilling rigs, drilling platforms, and other devices attached to the seabed of the Outer Continental Shelf for the purpose of resource exploration operations, and the anchored warehouse vessels that supply drilling platforms.[1]
The handful of U.S.-flagged cruise ships in operation are registered in the U.S. to permit cruises between the Hawaiian Islands, or from the continental U.S. to Hawaii.
The Passenger Vessel Services Act, however,
In accordance with this law, cruise lines that operate foreign-flagged vessels are fined $798 for each passenger who boarded such a vessel in one U.S. port and left the vessel at another port.[3] The cruise lines typically pass this cost onto passengers who "jump ship"; exemptions are available in the case of family emergencies etc.[4]