Waterborne Transportation Lines of the US (WTLUS)
The Waterborne Transportation Lines of the US (WTLUS) includes data on US vessels collected annually on a calendar year basis, by authority of 33 USC § 555, and is published the following year. The WTLUS publication is a by-product of the Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC) Master Vessel File. The annual survey would be done even if there were no WTLUS publication because the survey is a necessary and integral part of the WCSC enforcement and collection program. Tracking vessel owners and operators is the primary means of identifying non-reporting carriers and new vessel operating companies.
The WTLUS Consolidated Report consists of the National Summaries, Vessel Company Summary, and Vessel Characteristics.
National Summaries provides a condensation of the vessel data detailed in the WTLUS. Summarized vessel characteristics are represented in both tabular and graphic format.
The Vessel Company Summary provides a summary of the vessel companies detailed in the Vessel Characteristics. The names of the vessel companies are listed alphabetically with their business address and telephone number, the Engineer District number, the TSOperator (vessel company) number (for usage in querying computer data), principal commodities carried, the points or localities and waterways between which or on which operated, and the number of vessels reported by vessel type.
The Vessel Characteristics lists the vessel companies in alphabetical sequence and describes each vessel surveyed by indicating its name and number, Coast Guard number, net tonnage, type by VTCC code and ICST code, register and overall length and breadth, loaded and light draft, horsepower, carrying capacity in short tons or units of cargo and number of passengers, height of fixed superstructures, cargo handling equipment, operating headquarters, and year built or rebuilt. Detail vessel characteristics may not be available for all vessels included in the total WTLUS vessel inventory.
WTLUS Data Dictionary