Viking River Cruises, participating in this litigation through its subsidiary Viking USA LLC (“Viking”), has long offered cruises on rivers around the world, particularly in Europe and Egypt. This case concerns whether Viking’s recent expansion into the United States and the Mississippi River cruise market through a charter agreement with River 1, LLC (“River 1”), an American company and a subsidiary of Edison Chouest Offshore, was legal under federal maritime law. The 3 United States Maritime Administration (“MARAD”) found that it was, and today, we affirm.

BACKGROUND AND APPLICABLE LAW A series of federal maritime statutes colloquially known as the “Jones Act” generally bars foreign-owned companies from engaging in “coastwise” commerce, meaning commerce taking place between different ports within the United States. See, e.g., 46 U.S.C. § 55103 (barring foreign companies from transporting passengers between ports within the United States in most situations); Id. § 55102 (applying similar restrictions to commercial shipping activities); Id. § 55109 (applying similar restrictions to dredg