§53405 Obligations and rights under operating agreements

Summary

Require that the vessel covered by the agreement operate only in allowed international trades or under a U.S. charter, not in coastwise trade except as allowed, and be documented under U.S. vessel records while the agreement is active. If money is available, the Secretary must make payments to the participant as the agreement says, and the agreement is a U.S. government contract to pay up to the amount actually funded. The vessel must stay documented and the participant must follow emergency-preparedness rules until the agreement’s scheduled end date, even if the agreement was ended early under other rules. The emergency-preparedness terms can be changed only if the participant and both the Transportation and Defense Secretaries agree. The participant may transfer the whole agreement to another eligible person if both Secretaries say it is in the U.S. interest. The participant may swap in a replacement vessel if the Transportation Secretary, with the Defense Secretary, approves; courts cannot review those replacement decisions.