TITLE 46 - US CODE - CHAPTER 12 - REGULATION OF VESSELS IN DOMESTIC COMMERCE

46 USC Appendix 251 - Vessels employed in coasting trade or fisheries

(a) Landing of catch of fish by foreign-flag vessels
Except as otherwise provided by treaty or convention to which the United States is a party, no foreign-flag vessel shall, whether documented as a cargo vessel or otherwise, land in a port of the United States its catch of fish taken on board such vessels on the high seas or fish products processed therefrom, or any fish or fish products taken on board such vessel on the high seas from a vessel engaged in fishing operations or in the processing of fish or fish products. The Secretary of Commerce may issue any regulations that the Secretary considers necessary to obtain information on the transportation of fish products by vessels of the United States for foreign fish processing vessels to points in the United States.

(b) Sale or transfer for immediate consumption
Subsection (a) of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit the landing by a foreign-flag vessel of not more than fifty feet overall length in a port of the Virgin Islands of the United States for immediate consumption in such islands of its catch of fresh fish, whole or with the heads, viscera, or fins removed, but not frozen, otherwise processed, or further advanced. No fish landed under this authorization shall be sold or transferred except for immediate consumption. Sale or transfer to an agent, representative, or employee of a freezer or cannery shall be deemed to be prohibited in the absence of satisfactory evidence that such sale or transfer is for immediate consumption. For the purposes of this subsection, the term immediate consumption shall not preclude the freezing, smoking, or other processing of such fresh fish by the ultimate consumer thereof.

(c) Forfeitures and penalties
Any fish landed in the Virgin Islands of the United States which are retained, sold, or transferred other than as authorized in subsection (b) of this section shall be liable to forfeiture and any person or persons retaining, selling, transferring, purchasing, or receiving such fish shall severally be liable to a penalty of $1,000 for each offense, in addition to any other penalty provided in law.

46 USC Appendix 251a - Remission or mitigation of fines, penalties or forfeitures

Any fine, penalty, or forfeiture incurred under the provisions of this Act shall be subject to remission or mitigation in accordance with section 2107 (b) of title 46.

46 USC Appendix 251b - Regulations

The Secretary of the Treasury may issue such regulations as he deems necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this Act.

46 USC Appendix 262 - Trade of documented vessel not to defraud revenue laws

No documented vessel shall be employed in any trade whereby the revenue laws of the United States shall be defrauded.

46 USC Appendix 277 - Inspection of documents

Any officer concerned in the collection of the revenue may at all times inspect the certificate of documentation of any documented vessel or any document in lieu thereof; and if the master or other person in charge or command of any such vessel shall not exhibit the same, when required by such officer, unless the vessel is one which by regulation of the Secretary of Transportation is not required to have its certificate of documentation or document in lieu thereof on board, such master or person in charge or command shall be liable to a penalty of $100, unless the failure to do so is willful, in which case he shall be liable to a penalty of $1,000 and to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

46 USC Appendix 289 - Transportation of passengers in foreign vessels

No foreign vessel shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $200 for each passenger so transported and landed.

46 USC Appendix 289a - Transportation of passengers in Canadian vessels between Rochester and Alexandria Bay

Until such time as passenger service shall be established by vessels of the United States between the port of Rochester, New York, and the port of Alexandria Bay, New York, the Commissioner of Customs is authorized in his discretion to issue annually permits to Canadian passenger vessels to transport passengers between these ports; such Canadian vessels holding such permits not to be subject to the provisions of section 289 of this Appendix.

46 USC Appendix 289b - Transportation of passengers and merchandise in Canadian vessels between points in Alaska and United States

Notwithstanding the provisions of law of the United States restricting to vessels of the United States the transportation of passengers and merchandise directly or indirectly from any port in the United States to another port of the United States, passengers may be transported on Canadian vessels between ports in southeastern Alaska, and passengers and merchandise may be transported on Canadian vessels between Hyder, Alaska, and other points in southeastern Alaska, and between Hyder, Alaska, and other points in the United States outside Alaska, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation until the Secretary of Transportation determines that United States-flag service is available to provide such transportation.

46 USC Appendix 289c - Transportation of passengers between Puerto Rico and other United States ports; foreign-flag vessels; unavailability of United States flag service

(a) Authorization of transportation
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, passengers may be transported on passenger vessels not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade between ports in Puerto Rico and other ports in the United States, directly or by way of a foreign port, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(b) Notification by Secretary; termination of services

(1) Upon a showing to the Secretary of Transportation, by the vessel owner or charterer, that service aboard a United States passenger vessel qualified to engage in the coastwise trade is being offered or advertised pursuant to a Certificate of Financial Responsibility for Indemnification of Passengers for Nonperformance of Transportation (46 App. U.S.C. 817e) from the Federal Maritime Commission for service in the coastwise trade between ports in Puerto Rico and other ports in the United States, the Secretary shall notify the owner or operator of each vessel transporting passengers under authority of this section that he shall, within 270 days after notification, terminate all such service. Coastwise privileges granted to every owner or operator under this section shall expire on the 270th day following the Secretarys notification.

(2) Upon a showing to the Secretary, by the vessel owner or charterer, that service aboard a United States passenger vessel not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade is being offered or advertised pursuant to a Certificate of Financial Responsibility for Indemnification of Passengers for Nonperformance of Transportation (46 App. U.S.C. 817e) from the Federal Maritime Commission for service in the coastwise trade between ports in Puerto Rico and other ports in the United States, the Secretary shall notify the owner or operator of each foreign-flag vessel transporting passengers under authority of this section that he shall, within 270 days after notification, terminate all such service. Coastwise privileges granted to every owner or operator of a foreign-flag vessel transporting passengers under authority of this section shall expire on the 270th day following the Secretarys notification.

(c) Extension of termination period
If, at the expiration of the 270-day period specified in subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section, the vessel that has been offering or advertising service pursuant to a certificate described in either of those subsections has not entered the coastwise passenger trade between ports in Puerto Rico and other ports in the United States, then the termination of service required by either of those subsections shall not be required until 90 days following the entry into that trade by the United States vessel.

(d) Reinstatement of coastwise privileges
Any coastwise privileges granted in this section that expire under subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section shall be reinstated upon a determination by the Secretary that the service on which the expiration of the privileges was based is no longer available.

(e) “Passenger vessel” defined
For the purposes of subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section, the term passenger vessel means any vessel of similar size or offering service comparable to any other vessel transporting passengers under authority of this section.

46 USC Appendix 290 - Omitted

46 USC Appendix 291 - Transshipment of imported merchandise intended for immediate exportation

Whenever merchandise is imported into the United States by sea for immediate exportation to a foreign port by sea, or by a river, the right to ascend or descend which for the purposes of commerce is secured by treaty to the citizens of the United States and the subjects of a foreign power, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to prescribe regulations for the transshipment and transportation of such merchandise.

46 USC Appendix 292 - Vessels that may engage in dredging

(a) In general
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a vessel may engage in dredging in the navigable waters of the United States only if

(1) the vessel meets the requirements of section 883 of this Appendix and sections 802 and 803 of this Appendix for engaging in the coastwise trade;

(2) when chartered, the charterer of the vessel is a citizen of the United States under sections 802 and 803 of this Appendix for engaging in the coastwise trade; and

(3) for a vessel that is at least 5 net tons, the vessel is documented under chapter 121 of title 46 with a coastwise endorsement.

(b) Exception
A documented vessel with a registry endorsement may engage in the dredging of gold in Alaska.

(c) Penalty
When a vessel is operated in knowing violation of this section, that vessel and its equipment are liable to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States Government.

46 USC Appendix 316 - Use of foreign vessels in United States ports

(a) Towing vessels
It shall be unlawful for any vessel not wholly owned by a person who is a citizen of the United States within the meaning of the laws respecting the documentation of vessels and not having in force a certificate of documentation issued under section 12106 of title 46 to tow any vessel other than a vessel in distress, from any port or place in the United States, its Territories or possessions, embraced within the coastwise laws of the United States, to any other port or place within the same, either directly or by way of a foreign port or place, or to do any part of such towing, or to tow any such vessel, from point to point within the harbors of such places, or to tow any vessel transporting valueless material or any dredged material, regardless of whether it has commercial value, from a point or place in the United States or a point or place on the high seas within the Exclusive Economic Zone as defined in the Presidential Proclamation of March 10, 1983, to another point or place in the United States or a point or place on the high seas within that Exclusive Economic Zone. The owner and master of any vessel towing another vessel in violation of the provisions of this section shall each be liable to a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000, which fines shall constitute liens upon the offending vessel enforceable through the district court of the United States for any district in which such vessel may be found, and clearance shall not be granted to such vessel until the fines have been paid. The towing vessel shall also be further liable to a penalty of $50 per ton on the measurement of every vessel towed in violation of this section, which sum may be recovered by way of libel or suit.

(b) “Person” defined
The term person as used in subsection (a) of this section, shall be held to include persons, firms, partnerships, associations, organizations, and corporations, doing business or existing under or by the authority of the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, district, or other subdivision thereof.

(c) Foreign railroad companies using ferries, tugboats, or towboats
Any foreign railroad company or corporation, whose road enters the United States by means of a ferry, tugboat, or towboat, may own such vessel and operate the same in connection with the water transportation of the passenger, freight, express, baggage, and mail cars used by such road, together with the passengers, freight, express matter, baggage, and mails transported in such cars, without being subject to any other or different restrictions than those imposed by law on any vessel of the United States entering ports of the United States from ports in the same foreign country: Provided, That except as authorized by section 883 of this Appendix, such ferry, tugboat, or towboat shall not, under penalty of forfeiture, be used in connection with the transportation of any merchandise shipped from any port or place in the United States, its Territories or possessions, embraced within the coastwise laws of the United States, to any other port or place within the same.

(d) Salvaging operations by foreign vessels
No foreign vessel shall, under penalty of forfeiture, engage in salvaging operations on the Atlantic or Pacific coast of the United States, in any portion of the Great Lakes or their connecting or tributary waters, including any portion of the Saint Lawrence River through which the international boundary line extends, or in territorial waters of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico, except when authorized by a treaty or in accordance with the provisions of section 725 of this Appendix: Provided, however, That if, on investigation, the Commissioner of Customs is satisfied that no suitable vessel wholly owned by a person who is a citizen of the United States and documented under the laws of the United States or numbered pursuant to the Act of June 7, 1918, as amended (46 U.S.C. 288), is available in any particular locality he may authorize the use of a foreign vessel or vessels in salvaging operations in that locality and no penalty shall be incurred for such authorized use.

(e) Operations permitted by treaty
Nothing in this section shall be held or construed to prohibit or restrict any assistance to vessels or salvage operations authorized by article II of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain concerning reciprocal rights for United States and Canada in the conveyance of prisoners and wrecking and salvage signed at Washington, May 18, 1908 (35 Stat. 2036), or by the treaty between the United States and Mexico to facilitate assistance to and salvage of vessels in territorial waters, signed at Mexico City, June 13, 1935 (49 Stat. 3359).

46 USC Appendix 316a - Vessel escort operations and towing assistance

(a) In general
Except in the case of a vessel in distress, only a vessel of the United States (as that term is defined in section 2101 of title 46) may perform the following escort vessel operations within the navigable waters of the United States:

(1) Operations that commence or terminate at a port or place in the United States.

(2) Operations required by United States law or regulation.

(3) Operations provided in whole or in part within or through navigation facilities owned, maintained, or operated by the United States Government or the approaches to those facilities, other than facilities operated by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation on the St. Lawrence River portion of the Seaway.

(b) Addition to towing vessel
In the case of a vessel being towed under section 316 (a) of this Appendix, an escort vessel is any vessel assigned and dedicated to the vessel being towed in addition to any towing vessel required under that section.

(c) Relationship to other law
Nothing in this section shall affect or be construed or interpreted to affect or modify section 316 (a) of this Appendix.

(d) Definition
In this section, the term escort vessel means any vessel that is assigned and dedicated to assist another vessel, whether or not tethered to that vessel, solely as a safety precaution to assist in controlling the speed or course of the assisted vessel in the event of a steering or propulsion equipment failure, or any other similar emergency circumstance, or in restricted waters where additional assistance in maneuvering the vessel is required to ensure its safe operation.

(e) Penalty
A person violating this section is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each day during which the violation occurs.

46 USC Appendix 319 - Civil penalties for trading without required certificate of documentation

Whenever a vessel, entitled to be documented and not so documented, is employed in a trade for which certificates of documentation are issued under the vessel documentation laws, other than a trade covered by a registry, the vessel is liable to a civil penalty of $500 for each port at which it arrives without the proper certificate of documentation, and if it has on board any merchandise of foreign growth or manufacture (sea stores excepted), or any taxable domestic spirits, wines, or other alcoholic liquors, on which the duties or taxes have not been paid or secured to be paid, the vessel, together with its equipment and cargo, is liable to seizure and forfeiture. Marks, labels, brands, or stamps, indicative of foreign origin, upon or accompanying merchandise or containers of merchandise found on board such vessel, shall be prima facie evidence of the foreign origin of such merchandise.

46 USC Appendix 320 - Remission or mitigation of fines

The fines imposed by sections 51 and 61 of this act and sections 289 and 319 of this Appendix shall be subject to remission or mitigation by the Commissioner of Customs when the offense was not willfully committed, under such regulations and methods of ascertaining the facts as may seem to him advisable.

[1] See References in Text note below.

46 USC Appendix 321 - Penalty for illegal enrollment or license

Every collector, who knowingly makes any record of enrollment or license of any vessel, and every other officer, or person, appointed by or under them, who makes any record, or grants any certificate or other document whatever, contrary to the true intent and meaning of title 50 of the Revised Statutes, or takes any other or greater fees than are by title 50 of the Revised Statutes allowed, or receives for any service performed pursuant to title 50 of the Revised Statutes, any reward or gratuity, and every surveyor, or other person appointed to measure vessels, who willfully delivers to any collector or such officer or employee as the Secretary of the Treasury shall designate a false description of any vessel, to be enrolled or licensed, in pursuance of title 50 of the Revised Statutes, shall be liable to a penalty of $500, and be rendered incapable of serving in any office of trust or profit under the United States.

46 USC Appendix 322 - Penalty for malfeasance

Every person, authorized and required by title 50 of the Revised Statutes to perform any act or thing as an officer, who willfully neglects or refuses to do and perform the same, according to the true intent and meaning of title 50 of the Revised Statutes, shall, if not subject to the penalty and disqualifications prescribed in section 321 of this Appendix, be liable to a penalty of $500 for the first offense, and of like sum for the second offense, and shall, after conviction for the second offense, be rendered incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the United States.

46 USC Appendix 323 - Penalty for forgery and alteration

Every person who forges, counterfeits, erases, alters, or falsifies any enrollment, license, certificate, permit, or other document, mentioned or required in title 50 of the Revised Statutes, to be granted by any officer of the revenue, such person, so offending, shall be liable to a penalty of $500.

46 USC Appendix 324 - Penalty for obstructing officers

Every person who assaults, resists, obstructs, or hinders any officer in the execution of any Act or law relating to the enrollment, registry, or licensing of vessels, or of title 50 of the Revised Statutes, or of any of the powers or authorities vested in him by any such Act or law, shall, for every such offense, for which no other penalty is particularly provided, be liable to a penalty of $500.

46 USC Appendix 326 - Exemption from forfeiture

Any merchandise on board any vessel which belongs, in good faith, to any person other than the master, owner, or mariners of such vessel, and upon which the duties have been paid, or secured according to law, shall be exempted from any forfeiture under title 50 of the Revised Statutes.

46 USC Appendix 327 - Notice of seizure

In every case where a forfeiture of any vessel or merchandise shall accrue, it shall be the duty of the collector or other proper officer, who shall give notice of the seizure of such vessel or of such merchandise, to insert in the same advertisement the name and the place of residence of the person to whom any such vessel and merchandise belonged or were consigned, at the time of such seizure, if the same be known to him.

46 USC Appendix 328 - Recovery of forfeitures and penalties

All penalties and forfeitures which shall be incurred by virtue of title 50 of the Revised Statutes may be sued for, prosecuted, and recovered as penalties and forfeitures incurred by virtue of the laws relating to the collection of duties, and shall be appropriated in like manner; except when otherwise expressly prescribed.

46 USC Appendix 336 - Canal boats exempt from enrollment, license, and customs fees

The act to which this is a supplement shall not be so construed as to extend the provisions of the said act to canal boats or boats employed on the internal waters or canals of any State; and all such boats, excepting only such as are provided with sails or propelling machinery of their own adapted to lake or coastwise navigation, and excepting such as are employed in trade with the Canadas, shall be exempt from the provisions of the said act, and from the payment of all customs and other fees under any act of Congress.