H332364

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20229 U.S. Customs and Border Protection HQ H332364 July 25, 2023 VES-3-02-OT:RR:BSTC:CCR H332354 TNA CATEGORY: Carriers John S. West, Esq. Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP Troutman Pepper Building 1001 Haxall Point Richmond, VA 23219 RE: Coastwise Transportation; Undersea Cable Laying; Dredging; 46 U.S.C. § 55102; 46 U.S.C. § 55109; 19 C.F.R. § 4.80b Dear Mr. West: This letter is in response to your May 24, 2023, ruling request on behalf of your client, [], (“the Company”) regarding whether dredging and cable laying activities, related to the installation of electric power transmission cable by a non-coastwise-qualified vessel, would violate the coastwise laws. Our decision follows. FACTS The following facts are taken from your ruling request. The Company is a prime contractor on a multi-stage cable-laying and dredging project that will take place in the Hudson River. This project involves the installation of two solid state high voltage direct current electric cables in New York State. The project is slated to begin no earlier than August 2023, and will continue through 2025. This project will use a variety of vessels to complete the work. It will use one trenching support vessel (“TSV”), which will be the Greek-flagged, non-coastwise-qualified []. It will also use two cable lay vessels, the [] and the [], both of which are Greek-flagged, non-coastwise-qualified vessels. The TSV will be equipped with a medium sized work class remotely operated vehicle (“ROV 1”), which will support the TSV’s underwater operations, including post-installation survey operations to determine the burial depth of the installed cables. ROV 1 will be launched from, and recovered to, the TSV. Cable Lay Vessel 1 will be equipped with an ultra-compact work class remotely operated vehicle (“ROV 2”), which provides underwater support for underwater operations, including touchdown monitoring of the cables during free-lay and visual inspections of utility crossings prior to the cables being laid. The ROV 2 will be launched from and recovered to Cable Lay Vessel 1. Cable Lay Vessel 2 will be equipped with a work class remotely operated vehicle (“ROV 3”) that will provide underwater support, including touchdown monitoring of the cables during free-lay and visual inspections of utility crossings before these cables are laid. ROV 3 will be launched from and returned to Cable Lay Vessel 2. The project will also use several burial tools. The first is the [] (“Burial Tool 1”), a soft soil, lightweight jetting sled. Burial Tool 1 is equipped with a water jetting system that supplies high pressure water to the cutting nozzles of a stinger to fluidize the riverbed for purposes of laying and burying cable. It can create a trench up to 0.4 meters wide and up to 3.0 meters deep. The [] (“Remedial Burial Tool 2”) is a shallow-water tool that is capable of burying cables up to 2.2 meters deep. Although it can be operated in other modes, the Remedial Burial Tool 2 will only be used in jetting mode throughout the project. The [] (“Remedial Burial Tool 3”) can create a trench up to 0.75 meters wide and up to two meters deep. The [] (“Remedial Burial Tool 4”) can create a trench up to 0.48 meters wide and up to three meters deep. These three remedial burial tools are jet-trencher burial tools that use water jets to fluidize the riverbed, allowing the cable to settle into the trench that the tool creates. After the cables are buried, the fluidized soil will naturally settle over the buried cable. This project will be completed in five phases. In Phase One, if it is deemed necessary by permitting authorities, the TSV will conduct four days of turbidity or total suspended solids trials on the riverbed of the Upper Hudson River. The TSV will use Remedial Burial Tool 2 to fluidize the riverbed in various locations. This will measure the amount of turbidity the tool creates when performing jetting activities to install or bury cable. No soil or sediment will be removed, and no cable installation will take place during these trials. Phase One will take place during August 2023. In the project’s second phase, Cable Lay Vessel 1 will load in [], a foreign country, and transit to the Upper Hudson River, close to the town of Catskill, New York. Cable Lay Vessel 1 will assist with cable pull-in operations at previously constructed horizontal directional drilling (“HDD”) near Catskill. During this phase, local subcontractors will be hired to use coastwise-qualified vessels and divers to support cable pull-in onshore operations through the HDD. The coastwise qualified vessels could be vessels such as barges and/or workboats; they and the divers will assist in operations such as de-burying, preparing, and monitoring the HDD conduit. A shore-side messenger line will be retrieved from the offshore end of the HDD and delivered to the vessel deck using either divers from the coastwise-qualified vessels or ROV 2. The cable will be attached to the messenger line and pulled through the HDD conduit by means of a winch positioned onshore. Cable Lay Vessel 1 will then move away from the site of the HDD and use Burial Tool 1 to simultaneously lay and bury cable on the riverbed on the Upper Hudson River. Cable Lay Vessel 1 will also surface lay cable that will later be buried by Remedial Burial Tool 2, or, in the alternative, by the other remedial burial tools, all of which will be operated by the TSV. The TSV may also use any of the remedial burial tools to improve the cable’s burial depth by making remedial burial passes that fluidize the soil beneath the cable and allow the cable to settle naturally to a greater depth. After completing the cable laying and burial, Cable Lay Vessel 1 will place a cable end in wet storage on the riverbed. This will involve positioning a sealed cable end fitted with a standard cable recovery system on the riverbed. It will also be equipped with a buoy for later retrieval. When Cable Lay Vessel 1 completes Phase Two, it will return to Europe. Coastwise-qualified U.S.-flagged vessels will then be used to conduct pre-lay grapnel run operations prior to cable laying and burial operations. Phase Two will begin in in June 2024, and cable laying and burial activities will begin in August 2024. Pre-lay grapnel run operations will take place in August and September 2024. In Phase Three, Cable Lay Vessel 2 will load cable in [], a foreign country, and transit to the Upper Hudson River. Cable Lay Vessel 2 will first pick up the end of the cable left on the riverbed by Cable Lay Vessel 1 and join that to new cable. Cable Lay Vessel 2 will then use Burial Tool 1 to simultaneously lay and bury cable using the same process as in Phase Two. Cable Lay Vessel 2 will also surface lay cable, which the TSV will then bury using Remedial Burial Tool 2 using the same process as in Phase Two. The TSV may also use Remedial Burial 2 to improve the burial depth of the cable by making remedial burial passes using the same process described in Phase Two. After completing the cable laying and burial, Cable Lay Vessel 2 will place a cable end in wet storage on the riverbed, using the same procedures as in Phase Two. The vessel will then transit to a local port and trans-pool additional cable from a non-coastwise qualified vessel carrying cable laded on that vessel in [], a foreign country. Phase Three will commence in July 2024, with cable laying and burial beginning in September 2024. In Phase Four, Cable Lay Vessel 2 will pick up the end of the cable left in the riverbed at the end of Phase Three and join it to new cable. It will then use Burial Tool 1 to simultaneously lay and bury cable, the same way as described in Phase Two. Cable Lay Vessel 2 will also surface lay cable, which the TSV will subsequently bury using Remedial Burial Tool 2, using the same process as described in Phase Two. The TSV may also use Remedial Burial Tool 2 to improve the cable’s burial