The plaintiff's vessels periodically docked at US ports to load or offload cargo. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) received various complaints alleging that the plaintiff's vessels falsified oil record books and violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). Accordingly, the USCG ordered Customs to withhold the vessels' departure clearance. In order to have their vessels released, the plaintiffs had to post a monetary bond and execute a 'security agreement' that contained various non-financial conditions. The plaintiff brought an action against the USCG and the United States Department of Homeland Security (defendants) under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), alleging that the USCG lacked statutory authority to require such a non-financial security agreement as a condition of release.

Both parties moved for motion for summary judgment.

The plaintiff argued that the bond provision in s 1908(e) of the APPS stems from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), which provides that 'release shall be made promptly subject to reasonable procedures such as bonding or other appropriate financial security'. However, the defendants argued that the exercise of the USCG's discretion to require the plaintiffs to execute non-financial security agreements was non-justiciable.

Held: Defendants' motion granted.

The USCG's decision to release the plaintiff's vessels subject to non-financial conditions was committed to its discretion by the APPS. Both the language and structure of the APPS evidenced a legislative intent to give the USCG complete discretion when choosing the bond or other surety that would be required for release. Thus, the USCG's decision was determined to be within its discretion and was non-justiciable by nature.