[Comments on DOT Authority To Requisition Vessels]

In response to a congressional request, GAO commented on the Department of Transportation's (DOT) authority under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 to requisition a vessel during a national emergency when: (1) the corporation which owned the vessel did not meet a requirement for organization under U.S. law; and (2) an American corporation's foreign subsidiary owned or controlled the vessel. GAO found that: (1) DOT may requisition only vessels which are owned by U.S. citizens; (2) the act provided that only a corporation that was organized under the laws of the United States or its states, territories, districts, or possessions qualified as a citizen; and (3) if foreign subsidiaries of American parent corporations owned a vessel, that vessel would not come within the scope of the statute, unless it had a specific contractual arrangement to that effect.