The US Congress passed a bill that seeks to press the the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to bring LNG carriers into the US-flag fleet.

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015, which also covers the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and other maritime matters, requires Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx 180 days to issue guidelines called for in prior legislation.

That 2006 law “required the secretary of transportation to implement a programme to promote the transportation of liquefied natural gas on US-flag vessels,” said the House of Representatives’ Coast Guard and Marine Transportation Subcommittee in a summary of the bill.