Stat/Authority

Page 33

§ 2117. Termination for unsafe operation
An individual authorized to enforce this
title—
(1) may remove a certificate required by this
title from a vessel that is operating in a condition that does not comply with the provisions
of the certificate;
(2) may order the individual in charge of a
vessel that is operating that does not have on
board the certificate required by this title to
return the vessel to a mooring and to remain
there until the vessel is in compliance with
this title; and
(3) may direct the individual in charge of a
vessel to which this title applies to immediately take reasonable steps necessary for the
safety of individuals on board the vessel if the
official observes the vessel being operated in
an unsafe condition that the official believes
creates an especially hazardous condition, including ordering the individual in charge to
return the vessel to a mooring and to remain
there until the situation creating the hazard is
corrected or ended.
(Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VI, § 608(a), Oct. 15,
2010, 124 Stat. 2967.)
§ 2118. Establishment of equipment standards
(a) In establishing standards for approved
equipment required on vessels subject to part B
of this title,1 the Secretary shall establish
standards that are—
(1) based on performance using the best
available technology that is economically
achievable; and
(2) operationally practical.
(b) Using the standards established under subsection (a), the Secretary may also certify lifesaving equipment that is not required to be carried on vessels subject to part B of this title 2 to
ensure that such equipment is suitable for its
intended purpose.
(c) At least once every 10 years the Secretary
shall review and revise the standards established
under subsection (a) to ensure that the standards meet the requirements of this section.
(Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VI, § 608(a), Oct. 15,
2010, 124 Stat. 2968.)
CHAPTER 23—OPERATION OF VESSELS
GENERALLY
Sec.

2301.
2302.
2303.
2303a.
2304.
2305.
2306.
2307.

Application.
Penalties for negligent operations and interfering with safe operation.
Duties related to marine casualty assistance
and information.
Post serious marine casualty alcohol testing.
Duty to provide assistance at sea.
Injunctions.
Vessel reporting requirements.
Limitation of liability for Coast Guard Vessel
Traffic Service pilots.
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Chapter 23 lists requirements that relate to the general operation of all vessels. These include penalties
1 So
2 So

§ 2302

TITLE 46—SHIPPING

in original. Probably should be ‘‘this subtitle,’’.
in original. Probably should be ‘‘this subtitle’’.

and injunctive relief for negligent operation of a vessel.
It also provides penalties for failure to render assistance.
AMENDMENTS
2002—Pub. L. 107–295, title IV, § 431(b), Nov. 25, 2002,
116 Stat. 2128, added item 2307.
1998—Pub. L. 105–383, title III, §§ 302(b), 304(d)(2), Nov.
13, 1998, 112 Stat. 3418, 3420, added item 2302, struck out
former item 2302 ‘‘Penalties for negligent operations’’,
and added item 2303a.
1984—Pub. L. 98–498, title II, § 212(a)(1), Oct. 19, 1984, 98
Stat. 2305, added item 2306.

§ 2301. Application
Except as provided in sections 2304 and 2306 of
this title, this chapter applies to a vessel operated on waters subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States (including the territorial sea of
the United States as described in Presidential
Proclamation No. 5928 of December 27, 1988) and,
for a vessel owned in the United States, on the
high seas.
(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 508; Pub. L.
98–498, title II, § 212(a)(2), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat.
2305; Pub. L. 105–383, title III, § 301(b)(2), Nov. 13,
1998, 112 Stat. 3417; Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(7), Oct. 6,
2006, 120 Stat. 1702.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Revised section

Source section (U.S. Code)

2301 ..............................................

46:480

Section 2301 provides that this chapter is applicable
to all vessels, including foreign flag vessels, when operating on waters subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States. Any vessel owned in the United States
while operating on the high seas would be included. By
ownership the Committee means those vessels that are
documented or numbered under United States laws and
those other vessels that are neither documented or
numbered but are of national origin and are not documented under the laws of a foreign nation. This chapter
is applicable to a foreign flag vessel that is in innocent
passage through territorial waters of the United
States, presently 3 miles seaward, whether or not it is
bound to or from a port subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States.
REFERENCES IN TEXT
Presidential Proclamation No. 5928, referred to in
text, is set out under section 1331 of Title 43, Public
Lands.
AMENDMENTS
2006—Pub. L. 109–304 substituted ‘‘sections 2304 and’’
for ‘‘section’’.
1998—Pub. L. 105–383 inserted ‘‘(including the territorial sea of the United States as described in Presidential Proclamation No. 5928 of December 27, 1988)’’
after ‘‘of the United States’’.
1984—Pub. L. 98–498 substituted ‘‘Except as provided
in section 2306 of this title, this chapter’’ for ‘‘This
chapter’’.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–498 effective 180 days after
Oct. 19, 1984, see section 214 of Pub. L. 98–498, set out as
an Effective Date note under section 2306 of this title.

§ 2302. Penalties for negligent operations and
interfering with safe operation
(a) A person operating a vessel in a negligent
manner or interfering with the safe operation of

§ 2303

TITLE 46—SHIPPING

a vessel, so as to endanger the life, limb, or
property of a person is liable to the United
States Government for a civil penalty of not
more than $5,000 in the case of a recreational
vessel, or $25,000 in the case of any other vessel.
(b) A person operating a vessel in a grossly
negligent manner that endangers the life, limb,
or property of a person commits a class A misdemeanor.
(c) An individual who is under the influence of
alcohol, or a dangerous drug in violation of a
law of the United States when operating a vessel, as determined under standards prescribed by
the Secretary by regulation—
(1) is liable to the United States Government
for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000; or
(2) commits a class A misdemeanor.
(d) For a penalty imposed under this section,
the vessel also is liable in rem unless the vessel
is—
(1) owned by a State or a political subdivision of a State;
(2) operated principally for governmental
purposes; and
(3) identified clearly as a vessel of that State
or subdivision.
(e)(1) A vessel may not transport Governmentimpelled cargoes if—
(A) the vessel has been detained and determined to be substandard by the Secretary for
violation of an international safety convention to which the United States is a party, and
the Secretary has published notice of that detention and determination in an electronic
form, including the name of the owner of the
vessel; or
(B) the operator of the vessel has on more
than one occasion had a vessel detained and
determined to be substandard by the Secretary for violation of an international safety
convention to which the United States is a
party, and the Secretary has published notice
of that detention and determination in an
electronic form, including the name of the
owner of the vessel.
(2) The prohibition in paragraph (1) expires for
a vessel on the earlier of—
(A) 1 year after the date of the publication
in electronic form on which the prohibition is
based; or
(B) any date on which the owner or operator
of the vessel prevails in an appeal of the violation of the relevant international convention
on which the detention is based.
(3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘Government-impelled cargo’’ means cargo for which
a Federal agency contracts directly for shipping
by water or for which (or the freight of which)
a Federal agency provides financing, including
financing by grant, loan, or loan guarantee, resulting in shipment of the cargo by water.
(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 508; Pub. L.
98–557, § 7(a), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2862; Pub. L.
101–380, title IV, §§ 4105(b)(2), 4302(a), Aug. 18,
1990, 104 Stat. 513, 537; Pub. L. 102–587, title V,
§ 5102, Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5071; Pub. L. 105–383,
title III, §§ 302(a), 304(c), title IV, § 408(a), Nov. 13,
1998, 112 Stat. 3417, 3419, 3430; Pub. L. 107–295,
title III, § 325, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2105.)

Page 34
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Revised section

Source section (U.S. Code)

2302(a) .........................................
2302(b) .........................................
2302(c) .........................................

46:1461(d)
46:1484(b)
46:1461(d)
46:1483
46:1484(b)

Section 2302 states that the negligent operation of a
vessel is prohibited. These acts are subject to civil and
criminal penalties and the involved vessel is subject to
an in rem action. The negligent operation provisions
have their genesis in the Act of April 25, 1940, 54 Stat.
167, when Congress prescribed that no person shall operate any motorboat or any vessel in a reckless or negligent manner. This provision was directed at all vessels and not those solely engaged in recreational boating. When the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971, P.L.
92–75, 85 Stat. 217 (46 U.S.C. 1461) was enacted it adopted
the reckless or negligent operation provisions of the
1940 Act. It adopted for the first time a provision for assessing civil penalties in addition to criminal penalties.
It dropped the word ‘‘reckless’’ because of redundancy.
It also combined the two classes of vessels; ‘‘any motorboat or any vessel’’ into one class by using the word
‘‘vessel’’ and defined vessel as including every description of watercraft.
AMENDMENTS
2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–295 substituted ‘‘$5,000
in the case of a recreational vessel, or $25,000 in the
case of any other vessel’’ for ‘‘$1,000’’
1998—Pub. L. 105–383, § 302(a)(1), substituted ‘‘Penalties for negligent operations and interfering with safe
operation’’ for ‘‘Penalties for negligent operations’’ in
section catchline.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–383, § 302(a)(2), substituted ‘‘or
interfering with the safe operation of a vessel, so as to
endanger’’ for ‘‘that endangers’’.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105–383, § 304(c), substituted
‘‘$5,000; or’’ for ‘‘$1,000 for a first violation and not more
than $5,000 for a subsequent violation; or’’.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–383, § 408(a), added subsec. (e).
1992—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102–587 substituted ‘‘$1,000
for a first violation and not more than $5,000 for a subsequent violation’’ for ‘‘$1,000’’.
1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–380, § 4302(a)(1), substituted ‘‘commits a class A misdemeanor’’ for ‘‘shall
be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more
than one year, or both’’.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–380, §§ 4105(b)(2), 4302(a)(2)(A),
substituted ‘‘under the influence of alcohol, or a dangerous drug in violation of a law of the United States’’
for ‘‘intoxicated’’ and struck out ‘‘, shall be’’ after ‘‘by
the Secretary by regulation’’.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 101–380, § 4302(a)(2)(B), substituted ‘‘is liable’’ for ‘‘liable’’.
Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 101–380, § 4302(a)(2)(C), amended
par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as
follows: ‘‘fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not
more than one year, or both.’’
1984—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 98–557 added subsec. (c)
and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1998 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 105–383, title IV, § 408(b), Nov. 13, 1998, 112
Stat. 3431, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by
subsection (a) [amending this section] takes effect January 1, 1999.’’
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1990 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents
occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L.
101–380, set out as an Effective Date note under section
2701 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters.

§ 2303. Duties related to marine casualty assistance and information
(a) The master or individual in charge of a vessel involved in a marine casualty shall—