§1196. Advertising for bids for charters; rejection of bids

(a) The Secretary of Transportation shall not charter the Department of Transportation's vessels to private operators except upon competitive sealed bids submitted in strict compliance with all the terms and conditions of a public advertisement soliciting such bids. Each and every advertisement for bids to charter the Department of Transportation's vessels shall state the number, type, and tonnage of the vessels the Secretary of Transportation is offering for bare-boat charter for operation as a steamship line on a designated trade route, the minimum number of sailings that will be required, the length of time for which the charter will be given, and all other information the Secretary of Transportation shall deem necessary for the information of prospective bidders.

(b) The Secretary of Transportation shall have authority to, and shall announce in his advertisements for bids that the Secretary of Transportation reserves the right to, reject any and all bids submitted. The Secretary of Transportation shall reject any bid for the charter (under sections 1191 to 1203 of this Appendix) of any vessel constructed under the provisions of this chapter, as amended, if the charter hire offered by the bidder is lower than the minimum charter hire for such vessel would be if chartered under the provisions of section 1204 of this Appendix.

(June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VII, §706, 49 Stat. 2009 ; Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, §11(b), 53 Stat. 1186 ; Pub. L. 97–31, §12(108), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 163 .)

Amendments

1981-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–31, §12(108)(A)–(C), substituted "Secretary of Transportation" for "Commission" in three places, "the Department of Transportation's vessels" for "its vessels", and "the Department of Transportation's vessels" for "Commission's vessels". For prior transfers of functions of the Commission, meaning the United States Maritime Commission, see Transfer of Functions note below.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–31, §12(108)(A), (D), substituted "Secretary of Transportation" for "Commission" in three places and "his" for "its". For prior transfers of functions of the Commission, meaning the United States Maritime Commission, see Transfer of Functions note below.

1939-Subsec. (b). Act Aug. 4, 1939, required rejection of any bids for charter if the charter hire offered by the bidder is lower than the minimum charter hire for such vessel would be if chartered under the provisions of section 1204 of this Appendix.

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of United States Maritime Commission, see Reorg. Plan No. 6 of 1949, Reorg. Plan No. 21 of 1950, and Reorg. Plan No. 7 of 1961, set out under section 1111 of this Appendix.