FR Notice VISA Enrollment Open Season

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 165 / Thursday, August 26, 2010 / Notices

47107(c)(2)(B)(i) and (iii), the Airport
Sponsor will receive fair market value
for the property, which will be
subsequently reinvested in another
eligible airport improvement project,
including the financing of the recentlyconstructed ECP.
Any person may inspect, by
appointment, the request in person at
the FAA office listed above under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
In addition, any person may, upon
appointment and request, inspect the
application, notice and other documents
determined by the FAA to be related to
the application in person at the
Northwest Florida Beaches International
Airport.
Issued in Orlando, Florida, on August 17,
2010.
W. Dean Stringer,
Manager, FAA Orlando Airports District
Office.
[FR Doc. 2010–21209 Filed 8–25–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
Voluntary Intermodal Sealift
Agreement (VISA)
AGENCY:

Maritime Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of open season for
enrollment in the VISA program.

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Introduction
The VISA program was established
pursuant to section 708 of the Defense
Production Act of 1950, as amended
(DPA), which provides for voluntary
agreements for emergency preparedness
programs. VISA was approved for a two
year term on January 30, 1997, and
published in the Federal Register on
February 13, 1997, (62 FR 6837).
Approval is currently extended until
October 1, 2011, as published in the
Federal Register on March 24, 2010 (75
FR 14245).
As implemented, the VISA program is
open to U.S.-flag vessel operators of
oceangoing militarily useful vessels, to
include tugs and barges. An operator is
defined as an owner or bareboat
charterer of a vessel. Tug enrollment
alone does not satisfy VISA eligibility.
Operators include vessel owners and
bareboat charter operators if satisfactory
signed agreements are in place
committing the assets of the owner to
the bareboat charterer for purposes of
VISA. Voyage and space charterers are
not considered U.S.-flag vessel operators
for purposes of VISA eligibility.

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VISA Concept
The mission of VISA is to provide
commercial sealift and intermodal
shipping services and systems,
including vessels, vessel space,
intermodal systems and equipment,
terminal facilities, and related
management services, to the Department
of Defense (DOD), as necessary, to meet
national defense contingency
requirements or national emergencies.
VISA provides for the staged, timephased availability of participants’
shipping services/systems to meet
contingency requirements through
prenegotiated contracts between the
Government and participants. Such
arrangements are jointly planned with
the Maritime Administration, U.S.
Transportation Command
(USTRANSCOM), and participants in
peacetime to allow effective and best
valued use of commercial sealift
capacity, to provide DOD assured
contingency access, and to minimize
commercial disruption, whenever
possible.
There are three time-phased stages in
the event of VISA activation. VISA
Stages I and II provide for prenegotiated
contracts between DOD and participants
to provide sealift capacity to meet all
projected DOD contingency
requirements. These contracts are
executed in accordance with approved
DOD contracting methodologies. VISA
Stage III will provide for additional
capacity to DOD when Stages I and II
commitments or volunteered capacity
are insufficient to meet contingency
requirements, and adequate shipping
services from non-participants are not
available through established DOD
contracting practices or U.S.
Government treaty agreements.
VISA Annual Enrollment Open Season
The purpose of this notice is to invite
interested, qualified U.S.-flag vessel
operators that are not currently enrolled
in the VISA program to participate. The
annual enrollment is intended to link
the VISA enrollment cycle with DOD’s
peacetime cargo contracting to ensure
eligible participants priority
consideration for DOD awards of cargo.
Alignment of VISA enrollment and
eligibility for VISA priority will solidify
the linkage between commitment of
contingency assets by VISA participants
and receiving VISA priority
consideration for the award of DOD
peacetime cargo. This is the only
planned enrollment period for carriers
to join the VISA program and derive
benefits for DOD peacetime contracts
during the time frame of October 1, 2010
through September 30, 2011. The only

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exception to this open season period for
VISA enrollment will be for a non-VISA
carrier that reflags a vessel into U.S.
registry. That carrier may submit an
application to participate in the VISA
program at any time upon completion of
reflagging.
Advantages of Peacetime Participation
Because enrollment of carriers in the
VISA program provides DOD with
assured access to sealift services during
contingencies based on a level of
commitment, as well as a mechanism
for joint planning, DOD awards
peacetime cargo contracts to VISA
participants on a priority basis. This
applies to liner trades and charter
contracts alike. Award of DOD cargoes
to meet DOD peacetime and
contingency requirements is made on
the basis of the following priorities:
• U.S.-flag vessel capacity operated
by VISA participants and U.S.-flag
Vessel Sharing Agreement (VSA)
capacity held by VISA participants.
• U.S.-flag vessel capacity operated
by non-participants.
• Combination U.S.-flag/foreign-flag
vessel capacity operated by VISA
participants, and combination U.S.-flag/
foreign-flag VSA capacity held by VISA
participants.
• Combination U.S.-flag/foreign-flag
vessel capacity operated by nonparticipants.
• U.S.-owned or operated foreign-flag
vessel capacity and VSA capacity held
by VISA participants.
• U.S.-owned or operated foreign-flag
vessel capacity and VSA capacity held
by non-participants.
• Foreign-owned or operated foreignflag vessel capacity of non-participants.
Participation
Any U.S.-flag vessel operator
organized under the laws of a state of
the United States, or the District of
Columbia, who is able and willing to
commit militarily useful sealift assets
and assume the related consequential
risks of commercial disruption, may be
eligible to participate in the VISA
program. The term ‘‘operator’’ is defined
in the VISA document as ‘‘an ocean
common carrier or contract carrier that
owns, controls or manages vessels by
which ocean transportation is
provided’’. Applicants wishing to
become participants must provide
satisfactory evidence that the vessels
being committed to the VISA program
are operational and that vessels are
intended to be operated by the applicant
in the carriage of commercial or
government preference cargoes. While
vessel brokers, freight forwarders and
agents play an important role as a

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 165 / Thursday, August 26, 2010 / Notices
conduit to locate and secure appropriate
vessels for the carriage of DOD cargo,
they may not become participants in the
VISA program due to lack of requisite
vessel ownership or operation.
However, brokers, freight forwarders
and agents should encourage the
carriers they represent to join the
program.
Commitment
Any U.S.-flag vessel operator desiring
to receive priority consideration in the
award of DOD peacetime contracts must
commit no less than 50 percent of its
total U.S.-flag militarily useful capacity
in Stage III of the VISA program.
Participants operating vessels in
international trade may receive top tier
consideration in the award of DOD
peacetime contracts by committing the
minimum percentages of capacity to all
three stages of VISA or bottom tier
consideration by committing the
minimum percentage of capacity to only
Stage III of VISA. USTRANSCOM and
the Maritime Administration will
coordinate to ensure that the amount of
sealift assets committed to Stages I and
II will not have an adverse national
economic impact. To minimize
domestic commercial disruption,
participants operating vessels
exclusively in the domestic Jones Act
trades are not required to commit the
capacity of those U.S. domestic trading
vessels to VISA Stages I and II. Overall
VISA commitment requirements are
based on annual enrollment.
In order to protect a U.S.-flag vessel
operator’s market share during
contingency activation, VISA allows
participants to join with other vessel
operators in Carrier Coordination
Agreements (CCAs) to satisfy
commercial or DOD requirements. VISA
provides a defense against antitrust laws
in accordance with the DPA. CCAs must
be submitted to the Maritime
Administration for coordination with
the Department of Justice for approval,
before they can be utilized.

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Vessel Position Reporting
If VISA applicants have the capability
to track their vessels, they must state
which system is used in their VISA
application and will be required to
provide the Maritime Administration
with access to their vessel tracking
systems upon approval of their VISA
application. If VISA applicants do not
have a tracking system, they must
indicate this in their VISA application.
The VISA program requires enrolled
ships to comply with 46 CFR Part 307,
Establishment of Mandatory Position
Reporting System for Vessels.

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Compensation
In addition to receiving priority in the
award of DOD peacetime cargo, a
participant will receive compensation
during contingency activation for that
capacity activated under Stage I, II and
III. The amount of compensation will
depend on the Stage at which capacity
is activated. During enrollment, each
participant must select one of several
compensation methodologies. The
compensation methodology selection
will be completed with the appropriate
DOD agency, resulting in prices in
contingency contracts between DOD and
the participant.
Application for VISA Participation
New applicants may apply to
participate by obtaining a VISA
application package (Form MA–1020
(OMB Approval No. 2133–0532)) from
the Director, Office of Sealift Support, at
the address indicated below. Form MA–
1020 includes instructions for
completing and submitting the
application, blank VISA Application
forms and a request for information
regarding the operations and U.S.
citizenship of the applicant company. A
copy of the VISA document as
published in the Federal Register on
March 24, 2010, will also be provided
with the package. This information is
needed in order to assist the Maritime
Administration in making a
determination of the applicant’s
eligibility. An applicant company must
provide an affidavit that demonstrates
that the company is qualified to
document a vessel under 46 U.S.C.
12103, and that it owns, or bareboat
charters and controls, oceangoing,
militarily useful vessel(s) for purposes
of committing assets to the VISA
program.
New VISA applicants are required to
submit their applications for the VISA
program as described in this Notice no
later than 30 days after the date of
publication of this Federal Register
notice. Applicants must provide the
following:
• U.S. citizenship documentation;
• Copy of their Articles of
Incorporation and/or By Laws;
• Copies of loadline documents from
a recognized classification society to
validate oceangoing vessel capability;
• U.S. Coast Guard Certificates of
Documentation for all vessels in their
fleet;
• Copy of Bareboat Charters, if
applicable, valid through the period of
enrollment, which state that the owner
will not interfere with the charterer’s
obligation to commit chartered vessel(s)
to the VISA program for the duration of
the charter; and

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• Copy of Time Charters, valid
through the period of enrollment, for tug
services to barge operators, if sufficient
tug service is not owned or bareboat
chartered by the VISA applicant. Barge
operators must provide evidence to
MARAD that tug service of sufficient
horsepower will be available for all
barges enrolled in the VISA program.
Approved VISA participants will be
responsible for ensuring that
information submitted with their
application remains up to date beyond
the approval process. Any changes to
VISA commitments must be reported to
the Maritime Administration and
USTRANSCOM not later than seven
days after the change. If charter
agreements are due to expire,
participants must provide the Maritime
Administration with charters that
extend the charter duration for another
12 months or longer.
Once the Maritime Administration
has reviewed the application and
determined VISA eligibility, the
Maritime Administration will sign the
VISA application document which
completes the eligibility phase of the
VISA enrollment process.
After VISA eligibility is approved by
the Maritime Administration, approved
applicants are required to execute a
joint VISA Enrollment Contract (VEC)
with DOD [USTRANSCOM and the
Military Sealift Command (MSC)] which
will specify the participant’s Stage III
commitment, and appropriate Stage I
and/or II commitments for the period
October 1, 2010 through September 30,
2011. Once the VEC is completed, the
applicant completes the DOD
contracting process by executing a
Drytime Contingency Contract (DCC)
with MSC and, if applicable, a VISA
Contingency Contract (VCC) with
USTRANSCOM (for Liner Operators).
The Maritime Administration reserves
the right to revalidate all eligibility
requirements without notice.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND
APPLICATIONS CONTACT: Jerome D.

Davis,
Director, Office of Sealift Support, U.S.
Maritime Administration, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC
20590. Telephone (202) 366–0688; Fax
(202) 366–5904. Other information
about the VISA can be found on the
Maritime Administration’s Internet Web
Page at http://www.marad.dot.gov.
(Authority: 49 CFR 1.66)
Dated: August 20, 2010.
By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Christine Gurland,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010–21313 Filed 8–25–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

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