CONGRESS DIRECTS COAST GUARD TO FILE DOUBLE HULL PROGRESS REPORT

CONGRESS DIRECTS COAST GUARD TO FILE DOUBLE HULL PROGRESS REPORT    The U.S. Congress has passed legislation requiring the U.S. Coast Guard to report by Feb. 1 a report on the progress being made by tanker operators in replacing their fleets with double-hull vessels.
   All tankers calling at U.S. ports will have to be equipped with double hulls by 2015, as mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
   The reporting requirement is contained in the Transportation Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001. This legislation does not contain funding for the Maritime Administration’s liner shipping (Maritime Security) program.
   Congress directed the Coast Guard to list the number of U.S.-flag double-hull vessels and their carrying capacity; the number of single-hull vessels and their carrying capacity; and the year in which each is scheduled to be phased out of service. The bill also requires the Coast Guard to report the amount of oil transported each year by U.S. flag tankers to meet U.S. energy needs.