46 U.S.C. § 12118 — Owners engaged primarily in manufacturing or mineral industry

(a) Definitions. (1) A "Bowaters corporation" is a corporation that has filed a sworn certificate with the Secretary proving it is incorporated under US federal or state law; most of its officers and directors are US citizens; at least 90 percent of its employees live in the US; it is mainly engaged in manufacturing or mineral industry in the US; the vessels it owns are worth, by book value, no more than 10 percent of its total assets; and it buys or produces in the US at least 75 percent of the raw materials it uses or sells. (2) A "parent" is a corporation that has filed a sworn certificate proving it is incorporated under US federal or state law and controls, directly or indirectly, at least 50 percent of a Bowaters corporation's voting stock. (3) A "subsidiary" is a corporation that has filed a sworn certificate proving it is incorporated under US federal or state law and has at least 50 percent of its own voting stock controlled, directly or indirectly, by a Bowaters corporation or its parent. (b) Deemed citizen. A Bowaters corporation is treated as a US citizen for the purposes of chapters 121, 551, and 561, and section 80104. (c) Issuance of documentation. A vessel can get a documentation certificate and endorsement if it (1) is owned by a Bowaters corporation; (2) was built in the US; and (3) either (A) is self-propelled and under 500 gross tons as measured under section 14502 (or an alternate tonnage the Secretary sets under section 14104 using section 14302), or (B) is not self-propelled at all. (d) Effects of documentation. (1) Subject to (2): (A) a vessel documented this way may engage in the coastwise trade; and (B) the vessel, its owner, and its master get the same benefits and face the same requirements and penalties as any other documented or exempt vessel. (2) Such a vessel may carry paying passengers or merchandise in the coastwise trade only (A) as a service to the owning corporation's parent or subsidiary, or (B) under a bareboat charter at market rates, outside the domestic noncontiguous trades, to a carrier that (i) is regulated under subchapter II of chapter 135 of title 49, (ii) otherwise qualifies as a US citizen under section 50501, and (iii) isn't owned or controlled by the vessel-owning corporation. (e) Validity of corporate certificate. A corporation's certificate stays valid only as long as it keeps meeting these conditions. Once it stops qualifying, it loses its status under this section and must immediately surrender any documents it received based on that status. (f) Penalties. (1) If a corporation knowingly lies about a material fact in its (a) certificate, the vessel — or its value — documented or operated under this section is forfeited. (2) If a vessel illegally transports merchandise for hire, the merchandise is forfeited to the government. (3) If a vessel illegally transports paying passengers, it owes a $200 penalty for each passenger carried. (4) These penalties or forfeitures may be reduced or excused under section 2107(b).