shall bear interest at the rate of not less than 52 per centum per annum, payable semiannually.

SEC. 7. [46 App. U.S.C. 866] That the Secretary of Transportation is authorized and directed to investigate and determine as promptly as possible after the enactment of this Act and from time to time thereafter what steamship lines should be established and put in operation from ports in the United States or any Territory, District, or possession thereof to such world and domestic markets as in his judgment are desirable for the promotion, development, expansion, and maintenance of the foreign and coastwise trade of the United States and an adequate postal service, and to determine the type, size, speed, and other requirements of the vessels to be employed upon such lines and the frequency and regularity of their sailings, with a view to furnishing adequate, regular, certain, and permanent service. The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to sell, and if a satisfactory sale cannot be made, to charter such of the vessels referred to in section 4 of this Act 1 or otherwise acquired by the Secretary of Transportation, as will meet these requirements to responsible persons who are citizens of the United States who agree to establish and maintain such lines upon such terms of payment and other conditions as the Secretary of Transportation may deem just and necessary to secure and maintain the service desired; and if any such steamship line is deemed desirable and necessary and if no such citizen can be secured to supply such service by the purchase or charter of vessels on terms satisfactory to the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Transportation shall operate vessels on such line until the business is developed so that such vessels may be sold on satisfactory terms and the service maintained, or unless it shall appear within a reasonable time that such line cannot be made self-sustaining: Provided, That preference in the sale or assignment of vessels for operation on such steamship lines shall be given to persons who are citizens of the United States who have the support, financial and otherwise, of the domestic communities primarily interested in such lines if the Secretary of Transportation is satisfied of the ability of such persons to maintain the service desired and proposed to be maintained, or to persons who are citizens of the United States who may then be maintaining a service from the port of the United States to or in the general direction of the world market port to which the Secretary of Transportation has determined that such service should be established: Provided further, That where steamship lines and regular service have been established and are being maintained by ships of the board at the time of the enactment of this Act, such lines and service shall be maintained by the board until, in the opinion of the board, the maintenance thereof is unbusinesslike and against the public interests: And provided further, That whenever the Secretary of Transportation shall determine, as provided in this Act, that trade conditions warrant the establishment of a service or additional service under Government administration where a service is already being given by persons, citizens of the United States, the rates and charges for such Government service shall not be less than the cost thereof, including

1 Section 4 was repealed by section 202(4) of Public Law 100-710 (102 Stat. 4753).

a proper interest and depreciation charge on the value of Government vessels and equipment employed therein.

SEC. 8. [46 App. U.S.C. 867] That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Transportation, in cooperation with the Secretary of War, with the object of promoting, encouraging, and developing ports and transportation facilities in connection with water commerce over which he has jurisdiction, to investigate territorial regions and zones tributary to such ports, taking into consideration the economies of transportation by rail, water, and highway and the natural direction of the flow of commerce; to investigate the causes of the congestion of commerce at ports and the remedies applicable thereto; to investigate the subject of water terminals, including the necessary docks, warehouses, apparatus, equipment, and appliances in connection therewith, with a view to devising and suggesting the types most appropriate for different locations and for the most expeditious and economical transfer or interchange of passengers or property between carriers by water and carriers by rail; to advise with communities regarding the appropriate location and plan of construction of wharves, piers, and water terminals; to investigate the practicability and advantages of harbor, river, and port improvements in connection with foreign and coastwise trade; and to investigate any other matter that may tend to promote and encourage the use by vessels of ports adequate to care for the freight which would naturally pass through such ports: Provided, That if after such investigation the Secretary of Transportation shall be of the opinion that rates, charges, rules, or regulations of common carriers by rail subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board are detrimental to the declared object of this section, or that new rates, charges, rules, or regulations new or additional port terminal facilities, or affirmative action on the part of such common carriers by rail is necessary to promote the objects of this section, the Secretary of Transportation may submit his findings to the Surface Transportation Board for such action as such Board may consider proper under existing law.

SEC. 9. [46 App. U.S.C. 868] That if the terms and conditions of any sale of a vessel made under the provisions of this Act include deferred payments of the purchase price, the Secretary of Transportation shall require, as part of such terms and conditions, that the purchaser of the vessel shall keep the same insured (a) against loss or damage by fire, and against marine risks and disasters, and war and other risks if the Secretary of Transportation so specifies, with such insurance companies, associations, or underwriters, and under such forms of policies, and to such an amount, as the Secretary of Transportation may prescribe or approve; and (b) by protection and indemnity insurance with such insurance companies, associations, or underwriters and under such forms of policies, and to such an amount as the Secretary of Transportation may prescribe or approve. The insurance required to be carried under this section shall be made payable to the Secretary of Transportation and/or to the parties as interest may appear. The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to enter into any agreement that he deems wise in respect to the payment and/or the guarantee of premiums of insurance.

SEC. 10. [46 App. U.S.C. 869] That the Secretary of Transportation may create out of insurance premiums, and revenue from operations and sales, and maintain and administer separate insurance funds which he may use to insure in whole or in part against all hazards commonly covered by insurance policies in such cases, any legal or equitable interest of the United States (1) in any vessel constructed or in process of construction; and (2) in any plants or property in the possession or under the authority of the Secretary of Transportation. The United States shall be held to have such an interest in any vessel toward the construction, reconditioning, remodeling, improving, or equipping of which a loan has been made under the authority of this Act, in any vessel upon which he holds a mortgage or lien of any character, or in any vessel which is obligated by contract with the owner to perform any service in behalf of the United States, to the extent of the Government's interest therein.

[Section 11 repealed by section 903(b) of the Act of June 29, 1936]

SEC. 12. [46 App. U.S.C. 871] That all vessels may be reconditioned and kept in suitable repair and until sold shall be managed and operated by the Secretary of Transportation or chartered or leased by him on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of Transportation shall deem wise for the promotion and maintenance of an efficient merchant marine, pursuant to the policy and purposes declared in sections 1 and 51 of this Act; and the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation shall continue in existence and have authority to operate vessels, unless otherwise directed by law, until all vessels are sold in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the provision in section 11 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," to the contrary notwithstanding.

The term "reconditioned" as used in this section includes the substitution of the most modern, most efficient, and most economical types of internal-combustion engines as the main propulsive power of vessels. Should the Secretary of Transportation have any such engines built in the United States and installed, in private shipyards or navy yards of the United States, in one or more merchant vessels owned by the United States, and the cost of the Secretary of Transportation of such installation exceeds the amount of funds otherwise available to him for that use, the Secretary of Transportation may transfer to his funds from which expenditures under this section may be paid, from his construction loan fund authorized by section 11 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, so much as in his judgment may be necessary to meet obligations under contracts for such installation; and the Treasurer of the United States shall, at the request of the Secretary of Transportation, make the transfer accordingly: Provided, That the total amount hereafter expended by the Secretary of Transportation for this purpose shall not in the aggregate exceed $25,000,000. Any such vessel hereafter so equipped by the Secretary of Transportation under the provisions of this section shall not be sold for a period of five years from the date the installation thereof is com

1 Section 5 was repealed by section 202(4) of Public Law 100-710 (102 Stat. 4753).

pleted, unless it is sold for a price not less than the cost of the installation thereof and of any other work of reconditioning done at the same time plus an amount not less than $10 for each deadweight ton of the vessel as computed before such reconditioning thereof is commenced. The date of the completion of such installation and the amount of the dead-weight tonnage of the vessel shall be fixed by the Secretary of Transportation: Provided further, That in fixing the minimum price at which the vessel may thus be sold the Secretary of Transportation may deduct from the aggregate amount above prescribed 5 per centum thereof per annum from the date of the installation to the date of sale as depreciation: And provided further, That no part of such fund shall be expended upon the reconditioning of any vessel unless the Secretary of Transportation shall have first made a binding contract for a satisfactory sale of such vessel in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or for the charter or lease of such vessels for a period of not less than five years by a capable, solvent operator; or unless the Secretary of Transportation is prepared and intends to directly put such vessel in operation immediately upon completion. Such vessel, in any of the enumerated instances, shall be documented under the laws of the United States and shall remain documented under such laws for a period of not less than five years from the date of the completion of the installation, and during such period it shall be operated only on voyages which are not exclusively coastwise.

SEC. 13. [46 App. U.S.C. 872] That the Secretary of Transportation is further authorized to sell all property other than vessels transferred to him under section 41 upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of Transportation may determine and prescribe.

[Section 14 repealed by section 903(b) of the Act of June 29, 1936]

[Sections 15 and 16 repealed by section 307(4) of Public Law 101-225]

SEC. 17. [46 App. U.S.C. 875] The possession and control of such other docks, piers, warehouses, wharves and terminal equipment and facilities or parts thereof, including all leasehold easements, rights of way, riparian rights and other rights, estates or interests therein or appurtenant thereto which were acquired by the War Department or the Navy Department for military or naval purpose during the war emergency may be transferred by the President to the Secretary of Transportation whenever the President deems such transfer to be for the best interests of the United States.

The President may at any time he deems it necessary, by order setting out the need therefor and fixing the period of such need, permit or transfer the possession and control of any part of the property taken over by or transferred to the Secretary of Transportation under this section to the War Department or the Navy Department for their needs, and when in the opinion of the President such need therefore ceases the possession and control of such property shall revert to the Secretary of Transportation. None of

1 Section 4 was repealed by section 202(4) of Public Law 100-710 (102 Stat. 4753).

such property shall be sold except as may be hereafter provided by law.

[Section 18 amended section 9 of the Act of September 7, 1916]

SEC. 19. [46 App. U.S.C. 876] (a) The Secretary of Transportation is authorized and directed in aid of the accomplishment of the purposes of this Act:

(1) To make all necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act;

And the Federal Maritime Commission is authorized and directed in aid of the accomplishment of the purpose of this Act:

(2) To make rules and regulations affecting shipping in the foreign trade not in conflict with law in order to adjust or meet general or special conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade, whether in any particular trade or upon any particular route or in commerce generally, including intermodal movements, terminal operations, cargo solicitation, agency services, ocean transportation intermediary services and operations, and other activities and services integral to transportation systems, and which arise out of or result from foreign laws, rules, or regulations or from competitive methods, pricing practices, or other practices employed by owners, operators, agents, or masters of vessels of a foreign country; and

(3) To request the head of any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government to suspend, modify or annul rules or regulations which have been established by such department, board, bureau, or agency, or to make new rules or regulations affecting shipping in the foreign trade other than such rules or regulations relating to the Public Health Service, the Consular Service, and the Steamboat-Inspection Service.

(b) No rule or regulation shall hereafter be established by any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government which affects shipping in the foreign trade, except rules or regulations affecting the Public Health Service, the Consular Service, and the Steamboat-Inspection Service, until such rule or regulation has been submitted to the board for its approval and final action has been taken thereon by the board or the President.

(c) Whenever the head of any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government refuses to suspend, modify, or annul any rule or regulation, or make a new rule or regulation upon request of the board, as provided in subsection (a)(3) of this section, or objects to the decision of the board in respect to the approval of any rule or regulation, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, either the board or the head of the department, board, bureau, or agency which has established or is attempting to establish the rule or regulation in question may submit the facts to the President who is hereby authorized to establish or suspend, modify, or annul such rule or regulation.

(d) No rule or regulation shall be established which in any manner gives vessels owned by the United States any preference or favor over those vessels documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States.