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11/15/2011--Passed House amended. Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2011 - Title I: Authorization - (Sec. 101) Authorizes FY2012-FY2014 appropriations for the Coast Guard for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of navigation aids, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, aircraft, and related equipment; (3) the Coast Guard Reserve program; (4) environmental compliance and restoration of vessels, aircraft, and facilities; and (4) the Commandant of the Coast Guard for research, development, test, and evaluation of technologies, materials, and human factors directly related to improving the performance of the Coast Guard's mission in search and rescue, aids to navigation, marine safety, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, oceanographic research, and defense readiness. Designates amounts from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to carry out specified provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. (Sec. 102) Authorizes, for each such fiscal year, end-of-year strength for active duty personnel of 47,000 and specified average military training student loads. Title II: Coast Guard and Servicemember Parity - (Sec. 201) Entitles foreign nationals permitted to receive instruction at the Coast Guard Academy to the same emoluments (in addition to pay and allowances) as other appointed cadets. (Sec. 202) Requires the Commandant to direct the Superintendent of the Academy to: (1) prescribe a policy on sexual harassment and sexual violence for cadets and other Academy personnel; (2) conduct an annual assessment to determine the effectiveness of such policies, training, and procedures; and (3) report annually, along with a prevention and response plan, on the number of such incidents. Directs the Commandant to transmit such reports, together with comments by the Commandant, to Congress and the Board of Visitors of the Academy. (Sec. 203) Specifies that an original appointment of a permanent commissioned officer refers to that member's most recent appointment that is neither a promotion nor a demotion. (Sec. 204) Prohibits the Secretary of the respective department in which the Coast Guard is operating (Secretary) from, subject to congressional reporting requirements, expending more than $1.5 million from amounts available for operating expenses for minor construction and improvement projects at any location. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on each such project expending over $500,000. (Sec. 205) Sets forth guidelines for publicly disclosing records and investigation reports concerning aircraft accidents under the Commandant's jurisdiction. Prohibits: (1) an official responsible for or conducting a safety investigation from making such disclosures, and (2) accident investigators' opinions set forth in such reports from being considered in civil and criminal proceedings or as an admission of liability. (Sec. 206) Revises the acquisition workforce expedited hiring authority in the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 to: (1) authorize the Commandant to designate any category of specified acquisition workforce positions as positions for which there is a shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need, and (2) extend such authority to September 30, 2015. (Sec. 207) Directs the Commandant to submit to Congress a report on the status of Coast Guard servicemember housing including: (1) housing needs requirements; (2) an assessment of the condition of current housing inventory (leased and owned) and the housing available from surrounding communities and other government agencies for all duty stations; (3) a list of capacity shortfalls and excess; and (4) a revised, prioritized list of maintenance and recapitalization projects. (Sec. 208) Authorizes the Commandant, subject to the conditions set forth in this Act concerning the sixth and seventh national security cutters, to enter contracts or orders for materials, storage, and planning in advance of a contract or order for construction of a Coast Guard vessel for which amounts are appropriated or otherwise made available. Title III: Coast Guard Reform - (Sec. 301) Repeals provisions concerning: (1) District Ombudsmen, (2) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aids to air navigation, (3) floating ocean stations, (4) the detailing of Coast Guard members to assist foreign governments, (5) the Advisory Committee to the Academy, (6) history fellowships, and (7) acquisition awards for Coast Guard personnel. (Sec. 302) Establishes a class E felony and a civil penalty for knowingly and willingly operating a device that interferes with the broadcast or reception of a radio, microwave, or other signal (including a global positioning system) transmitted, retransmitted, or augmented by the Coast Guard for the purpose of maritime safety. (Sec. 303) Sets forth conditions that must be satisfied before the Commandant may begin production of a sixth or seventh national security cutter. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to report biennially to Congress on the status of all major acquisition programs with a life-cycle cost estimate of at least $300 million. Requires such report to include: (1) any mission hour gaps and program changes; (2) an integration plan for each new asset including shore-based infrastructure and human resource needs; (3) the operational lifespan and lifecycle cost of each legacy asset including anticipated resource gaps; (4) the accounting for legacy asset costs; (5) an annual performance comparison of new assets to legacy assets; (6) the next fiscal year's anticipated acquisitions workload, acquisition workforce assignments, and understaffed positions; (7) an identification of certified cutters that have not been maintained in class; and (8) other specified information. (Sec. 305) Directs the Commandant to submit annually to Congress the prioritized list of projects eligible for environmental compliance and restoration funding for each fiscal year. (Sec. 306) Requires that the Coast Guard Auxiliary be composed of U.S. nationals and aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence (currently, citizens of the United States and its territories and possessions) who are owners of motorboats, yachts, aircraft, or radio stations or who the Commandant deems qualified for such duty. (Sec. 307) Requires the Commandant to decommission the Polar Sea and Polar Star. (Sec. 308) Directs the Secretary to submit to Congress a report assessing the need for additional prevention and response capability for all mission areas (including search and rescue, marine pollution response and prevention, fisheries enforcement, and maritime commerce) in high latitude regions. (Sec. 309) Limits to $100,000 per fiscal year the amount the Commandant is authorized to use for the activities of traveling contract teams, maritime authority liaison teams of foreign governments making reciprocal visits to Coast Guard units, and related seminars, conferences, publication distributions, and personnel expenses. (Sec. 310) Prohibits the Secretary and Commandant from traveling aboard any Coast Guard-owned or -operated fixed-wing aircraft unless the Secretary has provided to Congress: (1) a cost-constrained fleet mix analysis, and (2) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) study of current and planned cutters requested by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Sets forth exceptions for certain major disasters, emergencies, spills of national significance, and evacuations. Title IV: Shipping and Navigation - (Sec. 401) Establishes the Committee on the Marine Transportation System to assess the adequacy of the marine transportation system (including ports, waterways, channels, and their intermodal connections) and develop and coordinate policies among federal agencies and local businesses to promote the efficient use of such system. Requires: (1) the Chair of such Committee to rotate annually among the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), Secretary of Defense (DOD), DHS Secretary, and Secretary of Commerce; and (2) the DOT Secretary to select an executive director. Directs the Committee to report to Congress every five years on: (1) the implementation of actions recommended in the July 2008 National Strategy for the Marine Transportation System: A Framework for Action, (2) an assessment of marine transportation system conditions and the challenges to meeting user demand, (3) a plan for improving the system and the implementation of actions previously recommended. (Sec. 402) Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on: (1) the loss of U.S. shipyard jobs and industrial base expertise resulting from rebuild, conversion, and double-hull work on U.S.-flag vessels eligible for the coastwise trading performed in foreign shipyards; (2) enforcement of the Coast Guard's foreign rebuild determination regulations; and (3) recommendations for improving the transparency of that determination process. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary to examine at dockside certain uninspected fishing industry vessels at least once every five years (currently, every two years). (Sec. 404) Prohibits a claim for damages or expenses relating to personal injury, illness, or death of a seaman who is a citizen of a foreign nation, arising during or from the engagement of the seaman by or for a passenger vessel duly registered under the laws of a foreign nation, from being brought under U.S. laws if: (1) such seaman was not a permanent resident alien of the United States when the claim arose; (2) the injury, illness, or death arose outside U.S territorial waters; and (3) the seaman, at the time the claim arose, had a right to seek compensation under the laws of either the nation in which the vessel was registered or in which the seaman maintained citizenship or residency. (Sec. 405) Bars maritime liability laws from: (1) establishing maritime liens on state or federal fishing permits (authorizing a person, or use of a vessel, to engage in fishing), and (2) authorizing civil actions to enforce maritime liens on such permits. Specifies that a"fishing permit"is governed solely by the state or federal law under which it was issued and is not included in the whole or as an appurtenance or intangible of a vessel. (Sec. 406) Expands the DOT's short sea transportation program (currently, a program to mitigate landside congestion) to include: (1) increasing the use of U.S. navigable waters for transportation of passengers or freight, and (2) promoting waterborne transportation between U.S. ports. Redefines"short sea transportation"as the carriage of passengers or freight (or both) by a vessel documented under U.S. laws that, by crane or wheeled technology, is loaded and unloaded in the United States or a Canadian port in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System. (Current law refers only to the carriage of cargo without specifying whether such vessels are documented.) Removes a provision that requires short sea transportation of passengers and cargo to be encouraged through regional planning with state and local governments. Terminates authority for the short sea transportation program on September 30, 2017. (Sec. 407) Specifies that the mission of the Maritime Administration (MA) is to foster, promote, and develop the domestic merchant maritime industry of the United States. (Sec. 408) Shields an entity operating a non-federal vessel traffic information or advisory service pursuant to a written agreement with the Coast Guard, and any person acting in accordance with operational procedures approved by the Coast Guard at such a service, from liability for damages caused by or related to information, advice, or communication assistance unless the acts or omissions constitute gross negligence or willful misconduct. (Sec. 409) Authorizes the Secretary to extend for up to one year a medical certificate issued to an individual holding a license, merchant mariner's document, or certificate of registry if the extension is required to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for medical certificates or in response to a national emergency or natural disaster. (Sec. 410) Amends federal shipping laws that require a determination by the MA Administrator regarding the non-availability of qualified U.S. flag capacity to meet national defense requirements before the head of an agency responsible for the administration of navigation or vessel-inspection laws is authorized on its own initiative to waive compliance with such laws when it considers it necessary in the interest of national defense. Requires the Administrator, in making such determinations, to: (1) identify any actions that could be taken to enable such flag capacity to meet the national defense requirements, (2) provide each such determination to the DOT Secretary and the head of the agency for which the determination is made, and (3) publish each such determination on the DOT Internet site within 48 hours after it is provided to the DOT Secretary. Directs the Administrator to notify Congress of any waiver requests or issuances. Requires the notification of the issuance of a waiver to include the reasons why: (1) the waiver is necessary, and (2) specified actions are not feasible. (Sec. 411) Requires, before the Secretary may delegate to a foreign classification society the authority to conduct examinations and approve plans for issuing certificates of inspection, compliance, and other documents regarding certain vessels, a determination by the Secretary of State that such a society does not provide comparable services in or for a state sponsor of terrorism. Requires the revocation of an existing delegation if the Secretary of State makes such a determination. Title V: Federal Maritime Commission - (Sec. 501) Amends the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2004 to authorize FY2012-FY2015 appropriations for the Federal Maritime Commission. Title VI: Miscellaneous - (Sec. 603) Prohibits notice of arrival regulations for foreign vessels on the Outer Continental Shelf from applying to certain U.S.-owned vessels that are not documented under foreign laws unless such vessels arrive from a foreign port or place. (Sec. 605) Permits certain U.S. purse seine fishing vessels fishing exclusively for highly migratory species in the treaty area under a fishing license issued pursuant to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America, or transiting to or from the treaty area exclusively for such purpose, to engage duly licensed foreign citizens to meet the manning requirement (except for the master) through the date such treaty ceases to have effect under specified articles of such treaty (thus replacing the current termination date of December 31, 2012), if no U.S. citizen personnel are readily available to fill such vacancy. Expands such authority to vessels operating in and out of Guam (currently, only American Samoa). Modifies related license and credential requirements. (Sec. 606) Authorizes the Secretary to issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement for specified vessels and liquefied natural gas tankers. (Sec. 607) Directs the Commandant to report to Congress on integrating Great Lakes icebreaking operational information of the U.S and Canadian Coast Guards. (Sec. 608) Requires that a standby vessel be located within a specified nautical mile range when a manned facility, installation unit, or vessel is performing drilling, plugging, abandoning, workover, or other operations. Allows the Commandant to reduce such distances when weather conditions or other factors prolong response time or lessen the time survivors of an accident can remain in the water. (Sec. 609) Applies the existing cap of 10 times unpaid wages as the maximum penalty payable to each seaman claiming delayed payment of wages on certain foreign, intercoastal, and coastwise passenger vessels. (Current law applies the cap to all claims in a class action suit by seamen.) (Sec. 610) Directs the Commandant to report to Congress on: (1) the ability of U.S. documented vessels to compete in international transportation markets, (2) drug interdiction in the Caribbean basin, and (3) the carriage of survival craft that ensures no part of an individual is immersed in water. (Sec. 613) Directs the Secretary, in issuing a solicitation for competitive proposals for a Coast Guard contracting opportunity, to state in the solicitation that the Secretary may consider a jobs impact statement relating to the effect of the contract on employment in the United States. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress describing the use of such jobs impact statements in evaluating offers for such contracts. (Sec. 614) Requires the Chief of the Corps of Engineers to continue studying the Jacksonville Port Authority project in Jacksonville, Florida without applying any additional peer reviews under specified provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. (Sec. 615) Directs the Commandant to convey, without consideration, the decommissioned Coast Guard Cutter STORIS to the Storis Museum, a nonprofit entity in Juneau, Alaska, provided that the Museum agrees to specified conditions including making the vessel available to the public as a museum and working cooperatively with other museums to provide education on and memorialize maritime activities in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Arctic Ocean, and adjacent oceans and seas. (Sec. 616) Permits a vessel of at least 100 gross tons that is not qualified to engage in coastwise trade to transport passengers between ports in Puerto Rico. Title VII: Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform - Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform Act of 2011 - (Sec. 702) Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to allow a person owning, operating, or chartering by demise a commercial vessel to discharge ballast water into navigable waters only if the discharge: (1) meets the ballast water performance standard, qualifies as a safety exemption, meets the requirements of an alternative method of compliance and the vessel operates exclusively within a geographically limited area or operates pursuant to a geographic restriction; and (2) is in accordance with an approved ballast water management plan. Defines"commercial vessel"to mean a watercraft or other artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water that is: (1) engaged in commercial service; or (2) owned or operated by the United States, other than a vessel of the Armed Forces. Applies such restrictions to the owner or operator of a commercial vessel that is designed, constructed, or adapted to carry ballast water if the commercial vessel is: (1) documented under the laws of the United States; or (2) operating in navigable waters on a voyage to or from a port or place in the United States. Exempts from such requirement owners or operators of: (1) a commercial vessel that carries all of its ballast water in sealed tanks that are not subject to discharge; (2) a commercial vessel that continuously takes on and discharges ballast water in a flow-through system, if such system does not introduce aquatic nuisance species into navigable waters; (3) any vessel in the National Defense Reserve Fleet that is scheduled to be disposed of through scrapping or sinking; (4) a commercial vessel that discharges ballast water consisting solely of water taken aboard from a municipal or commercial source that meets the applicable regulations or permit requirements for such source under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES); or (5) a commercial vessel that is three years or fewer from the end of its useful life when such restrictions become effective for the vessel. Establishes deadlines for compliance with performance standards. Requires owners or operators to: (1) conduct ballast water treatment using a treatment technology certified for the vessel before discharging the ballast water; and (2) ensure that any discharge meets the numerical ballast water performance standard set forth in the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments or a revised standard. Authorizes an owner or operator to discharge ballast water without regard to a performance standard if the discharge is: (1) done solely to ensure the safety of life at sea; (2) accidental and the result of damage to the commercial vessel or its equipment not willfully or recklessly caused by the owner or operator and all reasonable precautions to prevent or minimize the discharge have been taken; or (3) solely for the purpose of avoiding or minimizing discharge from the vessel of pollution that would otherwise violate federal or state law. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) complete, by January 1, 2016, and every 10 years thereafter, a review to determine whether revising the ballast water performance standard would result in a reduction in the risk of the introduction and establishment of aquatic nuisance species; and (2) undertake a rulemaking to revise such standard if such review finds that revising the standard would result in a scientifically demonstrable and substantial reduction in such risk. Prohibits the Administrator from issuing a revised performance standard that applies to a commercial vessel constructed prior to the date the standard is issued unless the revised standard is at least two orders of magnitude more stringent than the standard in effect on the date the review is completed. Authorizes the governor of a state to petition the Administrator to review such standards if there is significant new information that could reasonably indicate that such standards could be revised to result in a reduction of such risk. Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to evaluate a ballast water treatment technology, upon application of a manufacturer, with respect to: (1) whether the treatment technology meets the ballast water performance standard when installed on a commercial vessel (or a class, type, or size of commercial vessel); and (2) the effect of the treatment technology on commercial vessel safety. Authorizes the Secretary to certify such technology for use on a commercial vessel if the technology meets such criteria and does not use a biocide or generate a biocide: (1) that is a pesticide, as defined in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), unless the biocide is registered under such Act or the Administrator has approved the use of such biocide in such treatment technology; or (2) the discharge of which causes or contributes to a violation of water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. Prohibits an owner or operator from using uncertified technology to comply with the requirements of this Act, unless the technology: (1) is being evaluated under the Coast Guard Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program; or (2) has been certified by a foreign entity as meeting performance and safety requirements of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary, in certifying such technology, to impose conditions on the installation, use, or maintenance of the technology onboard a commercial vessel as are necessary for: (1) the safety of the vessel, the crew, and passengers; (2) the protection of the environment; and (3) the effective operation of the treatment technology. Authorizes an owner or operator who installs certified technology to use it notwithstanding any revisions to a ballast water performance standard occurring after its installation so long as the owner or operator: (1) maintains such technology in proper working condition; and (2) maintains and uses such technology in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and any conditions imposed by the Secretary. Terminates such authorization with respect to a commercial vessel after: (1) the expiration of the service life of such technology or of the vessel; or (2) the completion of a major conversion of the vessel. Directs the Administrator to issue requirements for land-based and shipboard testing protocols or criteria for certifying: (1) the performance of ballast water treatment technologies; and (2) laboratories to evaluate such technologies. Prohibits manufacturers from selling, introducing into interstate commerce, or importing for sale uncertified ballast water treatment technology for commercial vessels after ballast water discharge requirements for commercial vessels are in effect. Requires the Secretary to establish an alternative method of compliance with this Act for: (1) a commercial vessel having a maximum ballast water capacity of less than eight cubic meters; and (2) a commercial vessel that is three years or fewer from the end of its useful life. Authorizes the Secretary to establish as an alternative method of compliance appropriate ballast water best management practices to minimize the introduction or establishment of aquatic nuisance species. Requires an owner or operator to discharge ballast water in compliance with performance standards or alternative means of compliance unless discharging ballast water into: (1) an onshore facility for the reception of ballast water that meets standards issued by the Administrator; or (2) an offshore facility for the reception of ballast water that meets standards issued by the Secretary. Requires such standards to be issued within two years. Authorizes the Secretary to issue a certificate stating that a commercial vessel is in compliance with ballast water discharge requirements if discharging ballast water into a facility meeting such standards is the sole method by which ballast water is discharged. Requires an owner or operator discharging ballast water into such reception facilities to discharge such water in accordance with an approved ballast water management plan. Authorizes the Secretary to approve a ballast water management plan for a foreign commercial vessel on the basis of a certificate of compliance issued by the country of registrationif the requirements of that country for a ballast water management plan are substantially equivalent to regulations issued by the Secretary. Requires an owner or operator to maintain a ballast water record book in which each operation of the commercial vessel involving a ballast water discharge is recorded in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for alternative methods of recordkeeping. Authorizes state governors to apply to the Secretary to administer their own inspection and enforcement authority for ballast water discharges. Prohibits a state from adopting or enforcing any state law with respect to such a discharge except for regulations established under a program approved by the Secretary. Requires the Administrator, within three years, to evaluate discharges incidental to the normal operation of a commercial vessel. Defines such a discharge to mean a discharge of a pollutant into navigable waters in connection with the testing, maintenance, and repair of a system, equipment, or engine whenever the commercial vessel is waterborne, or a discharge into navigable waters from a commercial vessel of: (1) graywater (except body wastes and the wastes from toilets), bilge water, cooling water, oil water separator effluent, anti-fouling hull coating leachate, boiler or economizer blowdown, byproducts from cathodic protection, controllable pitch propeller and thruster hydraulic fluid, distillation and reverse osmosis brine, elevator pit effluent, firemain system effluent, freshwater layup effluent, gas turbine wash water, motor gasoline and compensating effluent, refrigeration and air condensate effluent, seawater pumping biofouling prevention substances, boat engine wet exhaust, sonar dome effluent, exhaust gas scrubber washwater, or stern tube packing gland effluent; (2) any other pollutant associated with the operation of a marine propulsion system, shipboard maneuvering system, habitability system, or installed major equipment, or from a protective, preservative, or absorptive application to the hull of a commercial vessel; (3) weather deck runoff, deck wash, aqueous film forming foam effluent, chain locker effluent, non-oily machinery wastewater, underwater ship husbandry effluent, welldeck effluent, or fish hold and fish hold cleaning effluent; or (4) any effluent from a properly functioning marine engine. Excludes as such a discharge: (1) a discharge into navigable waters from a commercial vessel of ballast water, rubbish, trash, garbage, incinerator ash, other such material discharged overboard, oil or a hazardous substance, or sewage; (2) an emission of an air pollutant resulting from the operation onboardof a vessel propulsion system, motor driven equipment, or incinerator; or (3) a discharge into navigable waters when the commercial vessel is operating in a capacity other than as a means of transportation on water. Revises provisions concerning the expiration of the Vessel General Permit for Discharges Incidental to the Normal Operation of Vessels issued under NPDES as in effect on February 6, 2009. (Sec. 703) Directs the Administrator to determine, within one year, the discharges incidental to the normal operation of a covered vessel for which it is reasonable and practicable to develop best management practices to mitigate adverse impacts on the waters of the United States and to review such determination every five years. Defines a"covered vessel"to mean every description of watercraft, or other artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, that is engaged in commercial service and that is: (1) less than 79 feet in length; or (2) a fishing vessel, regardless of length. Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations on the use of best management practices for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a covered vessel that the Administrator determines are reasonable and practicable. (Sec. 705) Prohibits the regulation in any manner other than specified in this Act of a discharge incidental to the normal operation of a commercial vessel or a discharge of ballast water from a commercial vessel. (Sec. 706) Repeals provisions of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 directing the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to issue voluntary guidelines to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes through the exchange of ballast water of vessels prior to entering those waters. (Sec. 707) Directs a qualified large ferry to operate for the life of the ferry under the terms and conditions of the Vessel General Permit, as in effect on November 1, 2011, without regard to any expiration dates in such permit if, as of November 1, 2011, the vessel is on or nominated for inclusion on the list of National Historic Landmarks. Title VIII: Piracy - Piracy Suppression Act of 2011 - (Sec. 802) Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to report to Congress on DOD actions taken to protect foreign-flagged vessels from acts of piracy on the high seas, including: (1) the total number of piracy incidents for FY2008-FY2011 in which a U.S. armed forces member or DOD asset was used to interdict or defend against an act of piracy directed against such vessels, and (2) the total cost for each of those fiscal years for such incidents. (Sec. 803) Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to establish a training program for U.S. mariners on the use of force against pirates. (Sec. 804) Directs the DOT Secretary to require each federal agency (except DOD) responsible for the transport of equipment, materials, or commodities (government-impelled cargo) by U.S. vessels to provide armed personnel aboard such vessels while transiting high-risk waters. Requires each agency to reimburse vessel owners or operators for the cost of providing armed personnel. (Sec. 805) Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on efforts to track ransom payments made to pirates operating in the waters off Somalia and improve their prosecution. Requires such report to include: (1) the status of Working Group 5 of the Contact Group on Piracy Off the Somali Coast, any efforts it has undertaken, and recommendations for improving its effectiveness; (2) U.S. efforts to implement and enforce Executive Order 13536 (sanctions against persons contributing to the conflict in Somalia), including recommendations on how to better implement the order to suppress piracy; (3) U.S. efforts to track ransom payments made to pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, the effectiveness of those efforts, any operational actions taken based on them, and recommendations on how to improve such tracking; (4) U.S. actions taken to improve the international prosecution of pirates captured off the coast of Somalia; and (5) an update on U.S. efforts to implement the recommendation in the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (GAO-10-856),"Maritime Security: Actions Needed to Assess and Update Plan and Enhance Collaboration among Partners Involved in Countering Piracy off the Horn of Africa,"that metrics should be established for measuring the effectiveness of counter piracy efforts.

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