To ship Designer, USA

I am running a ship yard in Korea.
Recently, I met a ship owner from GUAM and received an order for 5' LOA 20m class Aluminum Crewboats.
We are currently planning to build the crewboats in Korea, for which Guam, USA is the shipping port.
The ship owner requests USCG to be the classification inspection agency.
We have done ABS ships, but USCG ships are the first time.
Therefore, I have the following questions .

1. Can USCG inspect a ship built in Korea and a new ship imported from Guam?

2. Can USCG inspect a ship built in Korea and imported as a used ship in Guam?

3. Can I change to USCG after receiving inspection from KR class in Korea and transporting the vessel to Guam?

4. When purchasing ABS engines and equipments, is USCG OKAY?

Let me know if you guys have any good tips. please

 

please help~

 

Foreign built ships are not allowed to operate within USA waters. Guam is a territory, so I am not sure how the regulations apply. You should make sure the ships can be sold and operated in Guam. Otherwise, you may build them and get stuck with them.

 

in addition to G's comments.

You need to check that ABS accept those items approved by USCG. This is not the usual route for acceptance.
You can change the vessel from one to another Class/Flag. But there are many hoops of paper work to jump through. And sometimes some Class societies do not like accepting one simply because it has all the "other" Class approved items on it, rather their own (that's the money side talking). So.... It is a big paper work exercise...but it is possible.

 

Info on USCG is HERE, and certs here.

 

Here is some really fun, current reading on the subject. I am sorry for being a google participant, but the subject matter is intriguing. It should be noted, the article says ships, but the details suggest other vessels that may be mentioned by the OP. And it may help the OP understand the reasons and the laws here.

As a side note; despite the power of business in the US; there is not much political will to undo the Jones Act or anything related to helping foreign competition which is an undertone of the article.

US-Build requirement for ships: Dilemma for Hawaii, Guam, Alaska, and Puerto Rico > Hawaii Free Press http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/5974/US-Build-requirement-for-ships-Dilemma-for-Hawaii-Guam-Alaska-and-Puerto-Rico

 

Indeed, and has been this way since year dot!
And as the very good summary notes, does not help the US marine sector one bit.

We had to set up our own US based yard to get around the Jones Act.
But also fell fowl of unions, excessive regulations, expensive and very old fashioned parts etc etc (increasing lightship weights by over 20%)..so we only built about 4-5 vessels in the end until it too went belly up.

Talk about cutting our nose to spit your face....

 

A pal of mine manages container ships in London - he works for a large Chinese shipping company.
He has also managed various new builds for his employers, so he has experience of costs.
He told me that the cost of building (eg) a container ship in the USA under the Jones Act is typically FIVE times the cost of building the same vessel in South Korea.
If the Jones Act was abolished in the USA, all shipbuilding and other commercial craft construction would go out of business very quickly, as everybody (wanting commercial vessels in the USA) would then be looking to places like South Korea and other 'cheaper' ship and boat building countries to build their vessels.