Cabotage laws deal with the transportation of goods or
passengers between two points in the same country. In the United
States, such transport can only be performed by U.S. flagged
carriers which include, ocean vessels, air, rail and truck.
Violations are enforced by fines which are levied by the Department
of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A
foreign-flag ocean carrier client left a U.S port and was enroute
to Bermuda when a fire broke out in the vessel's engine room.
The vessel was towed back to Florida and there the cargo was
transshipped to another vessel. U.S. Customs asserted that
transporting cargo from one U.S. port to another constituted a
violation of 46 U.S.C. § 55102 and levied a $100,000 fine on
the carrier. We filed a petition arguing that the vessel arrived in
distress, and that the claim and fine should be expunged. Customs
found that although there was a technical violation, the vessel did
arrive in distress and thus this
