§53207 National Security Requirements

Summary

Requires each Operating Agreement to make the contractor sign a Contingency Agreement, and the Operating Agency must negotiate that agreement with the contractor as soon as possible after the Operating Agreement starts. The Contingency Agreement must make the contractor’s ship and all needed resources for providing cable services available when the Operating Agency asks. The Operating Agency sets the basic terms, but the contractor and agency can add extra terms that fit the contractor’s situation. If the ship works in areas the Coast Guard calls high-piracy, it must carry approved non‑lethal defenses set by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary overseeing the Coast Guard. Contractors cannot be forced to stay in a Contingency Agreement after their Operating Agreement ends, except under section 53205(d). Resources include equipment, people, supplies, management, and related services. The Operating Agency must pay fair, reasonable money at the rate in the Contingency Agreement from the time the ship is required until it is returned to commercial use, and this pay is separate from amounts under section 53206. The United States is not liable for lost business or other consequential damages from activating a Contingency Agreement, except as other law says. In lawsuits over broken third‑party contracts, a contractor may argue the breach was mainly caused by carrying out the Contingency Agreement, but must still try to reduce damages.