Request for Reimbursement of Costs for Ocean Transportation of Household Goods

A visiting scientist appealed the Claims Division's settlement which disallowed a claim and returned it to the employing agency with instructions to collect some of the amount which had already been paid to the claimant. The voucher was presented to the agency for reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with travel and transportation from England to West Virginia. The agency had offered the claimant a 2-year appointment as a visiting scientist for a manpower shortage position. The agency authorized travel for the employee and his dependents and the transportation of his houshold goods. The agency approved the employee's plan to arrange for his own travel and transportation, and the arrangements which he made with a British household goods forwarder, which provided for ocean transportation by a British ship and ground transportation by an American carrier. The agency paid some of the freight charges and left the balance for payment subject to the Claims Division's settlement. The Claims Division disallowed the charges on the basis of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. Employees recruited outside the United States for manpower shortage positions are entitled to reimbursement of transportation costs for shipping household goods on an actual expense basis where an agency official instructed the employees to select their own carrier. However, any ocean transportation, to be considered allowable, must be made on ships registered under the laws of the United States whenever such ships are available. The record does not contain proof as to the unavailability of an American flag ship at the time of the move. There is substantial evidence that American flag ships were available. In the absence of satisfactory proof of the necessity for the use of a foreign flag ship, the Comptroller General cannot credit or make allowance for shipping expenses incurred through the use of a foreign ship. The prohibition applies only to the ocean freight charges. The packing, crating, and inland transportation at origin can be reasonably ascertained from the record without danger of reimbursement for any part of the ocean freight charges. The settlement should be revised reducing the indebtedness of the claimant for the cost of packing, crating, and inland transportation but including the cost of excess valuation.