DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket No. 31-85
50 FR 40044
October 1, 1985
Foreign-Trade Zone 35 -- Philadelphia, PA; Application for Subzone,
Pennsylvania Shipbuilding, Chester
TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Philadelphia Port Commission, grantee of Foreign-Trade
Zone 35, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the shipyard of
Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company (Penn Ship), Chester, Pennsylvania,
within the Philadelphia Customs port of entry. The application was
submitted pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as
amended (19 USC 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR Part
400). It was formally filed on September 11, 1985.
Penn Ship is a second-tier subsidiary of Capital Marine Corporation. Its
shipyard covers 185 acres at Foot of Morton Avenue, Chester, some 20 miles
south of Philadelphia. The facility is used to design, construct, convert
and repair vessels for military and commercial uses, employing 1400
persons. Current contracts involve the converting of 2 SL-7 ships to
TAKRX fast logistic ships for the Navy; maintenance of 2 MARAD Cargo
ships, and repair of a foreign tanker. Bids have been made on the
construction of 2 clean-product tankers. Some 10 percent of the value
TAKRX project and 80 percent of the material value of the clean product
tankers involves imported components, including engines, generators,
pumps, propellers, compressors, heat exchanges, anchors, chain, gears,
valves, steel plate and structural shapes, steel pipe and tubes, copper
pipes, deck machinery, switchboard and control panels.
Zone procedures will help Penn Ship reduce costs on its current orders
and compete internationally for new contracts. The benefits stem from the
fact that most of the imported components are subject to significant duties
while the finished products, as oceangoing vessels, are duty-free. In
accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has been
appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: John J. Da Ponte, Jr. (Chairman), Director, Foreign-
Trade Zones Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230;
Edward A. Goggin, Assistant Regional Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service,
Northeast Region, 100 Summer St., Boston, MA 02110; and Lt. Colonel Ralph
V. Locario, District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District Philadelphia,
2nd & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked an or before October 30,
1985.
A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce District Office,
9448 Federal Bldg.,
600 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Boards,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania, NW,
Washington, DC 20230
Dated: September 24, 1985.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 85-23406 Filed 9-30-85; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M