46 U.S.C. § 50105 — Studies and cooperation relating to the construction of vessels

(a) Relative Costs and New Designs — The Secretary of Transportation must investigate, determine, and keep current records of (1) the relative cost of building comparable vessels in the United States and in foreign countries, and (2) new designs, new construction methods, and new types of vessel equipment. (b) Rules, Classifications, and Ratings — The Secretary must examine the rules used to build vessels abroad and in the United States, and the methods used to classify and rate vessels. (c) Collaboration With Owners and Builders — The Secretary must work with vessel owners and shipbuilders to plan economical construction of vessels and their propelling machinery, using the most modern, economical types, giving full consideration to all well-recognized propulsion methods, and taking advantage of standardized production where practical and desirable. (d) Express-Liner and Super-Liner Vessels — The Secretary must study, and work with vessel owners on, ways to build — with or without U.S. government help — express-liner or super-liner vessels comparable to other nations' ships, especially with a view toward their use in a national emergency, and must consider how transoceanic aircraft service could be used along with or instead of those vessels.