[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
