BLUF: The Maritime Administration (MARAD), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), proposed a rule on September 22, 2026 revising the Capital Construction Fund (CCF) Program to extend eligibility to all U.S.-built vessels and add a mechanism to terminate inactive accounts.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), published in the Federal Register, would revise MARAD's regulations governing how companies file applications for and administer CCF Program accounts — tax-deferred accounts that vessel owners use to fund the construction, reconstruction, or acquisition of ships.

Why it matters: Contractors and vessel owners with existing or planned CCF accounts should note that the rule proposes to conform the regulations to statutory amendments already extending CCF Program access to all U.S.-built vessels engaged in domestic or foreign commerce, and to eliminate limitations that previously restricted CCF Program availability to certain geographic trades. Owners with dormant accounts should also watch the new termination mechanism closely, since it would let MARAD close out inactive accounts, zero-balance accounts, and accounts where a CCF objective has not commenced within a 10-year window.

By the numbers:

• Publication date: September 22, 2026
• Document type: Proposed Rule (NPRM)
• Issuing agency: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation
• Account termination trigger: No CCF objective commenced within 10 years

Beyond the eligibility and termination changes, the proposal would clarify the maximum allowable completion time for vessel reconstruction projects funded through a CCF account and would provide for CCF funds to be used for vessel acquisitions under certain circumstances. MARAD also proposes to correct numerous citations, modernize the regulatory text, update agency contact information, and remove obsolete references throughout the rule.

Source: Federal Register