
      Except as provided in section 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.

                       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.

                                AMENDMENTS                            
      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.

Last modified: April 20, 2006