[Application of Foreign Shipyard Construction Prohibitions to Inflatable and Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats]

The Navy requested a decision regarding whether prohibitions against foreign shipyard construction included in the Tollefson-Byrnes Amendment and 10 U.S.C. 7309(a) applied to inflatable and rigid-hull boats. GAO held that: (1) the amendment applied to vessels appearing on the Naval Vessel Register, not to inflatable or rigid-hull inflatable boats; and (2) 10 U.S.C. 7309(a) applied to vessels with fixed and rigid hulls and superstructures, not to inflatable boats. Accordingly, the cited legal prohibitions were not applicable to inflatable boats, but were partially applicable to rigid-hull inflatable boats.