Citizenship and transfer provisions

(a) Citizenship of corporations, partnerships, and associations Section 50501 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (e) Exceptions Subsection (c) and paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) shall not apply to a foreign qualified freight vessel (as such term is defined in section 55102(c)) used for transportation referred to in section 55102(c)(2)(B).. (b) Approval of transfer of registry or operation under authority of a foreign country or for scrapping in a foreign country; penalties Section 56101 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (f) Transfer of foreign qualified freight vessels To promote the transfer of foreign qualified freight vessels to be documented under chapter 121 of this title for use for transportation referred to in section 55102(c)(2)(B) of this title, the Secretary may grant approval under subsection (a) with respect to such a vessel before the date the vessel is documented. (g) Foreign qualified freight vessel defined In this section, the term foreign qualified freight vessel has the meaning given such term in section 55102(c) of this title..