Sponsors (5)
The bill opens and clarifies U.S. coastwise LNG shipping to domestic owners—boosting business opportunities and security by excluding certain adversary-linked vessels—at the cost of added compliance burdens, reduced available foreign tonnage, higher shipping costs, and potential diplomatic friction.
U.S. vessel owners/operators, small maritime businesses, and transportation workers can obtain coastwise LNG documentation and a dedicated LNG endorsement, enabling expansion of domestic LNG shipping opportunities and providing clearer regulatory/permitting certainty.
Taxpayers and border communities face reduced reliance on vessels owned, crewed, or flagged by Russian or Chinese entities for sensitive energy cargoes, lowering strategic exposure to potential adversary-controlled shipping.
Small-business owners, transportation workers, and LNG shippers will incur higher compliance and verification costs and possible delays, and vessels with mixed foreign ownership or multinational crews could be excluded—reducing available tonnage and raising shipping costs for shippers and consumers.
Taxpayers and U.S. maritime authorities may face complications in international maritime cooperation and risk diplomatic or trade frictions because of nationality-based exclusions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows LNG-transporting vessels to obtain U.S. coastwise documentation while excluding vessels with Russian or Chinese ownership, flag, or crew ties.
Official title: To exempt certain vessels transporting liquefied natural gas from certain coastwise endorsement requirements, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 19, 2026 by Scott Perry · Last progress March 19, 2026
Permits U.S. coastwise documentation (a U.S. coastwise endorsement) for vessels that transport liquefied natural gas (LNG), creating a new exception in existing maritime law so such vessels can qualify for U.S. coastwise trade. The permission explicitly bars vessels owned or controlled by, flagged by, or crewed by Russian or Chinese nationals or the Russian/Chinese governments. The bill adds LNG-transporting vessels to the list of vessel categories that may receive a coastwise endorsement and names specific ownership, flag, and crewing exclusions to prevent Russian- or Chinese-affiliated vessels from qualifying.