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Shipping - 46 USC Appendix Section 316
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01/19/04 Sec. 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).
AMENDMENTS
1996 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-324 struck out "or 12107" after
"section 12106".
1988 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-329 inserted provision at end of
first sentence relating to transportation of valueless material or
any dredged material, regardless of commercial value.
1986 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-307 substituted "a certificate of
documentation issued under section 12106 or 12107 of title 46" for
"a certificate of registry, a certificate of enrollment, or a
license, issued pursuant to title 48 or title 50 of the Revised
Statutes or a certificate of award of number issued pursuant to the
Act of June 7, 1918, as amended (46 U.S.C. 288)," and "a vessel in
distress" for "a vessel of foreign registry, or a vessel in
distress".
1940 - Act June 11, 1940, designated existing provisions as
subsec. (a), expanded coverage to include all vessels and increased
the penalties for violations, and added subsecs. (b) to (e).
NONAPPLICABILITY OF PUB. L. 100-329 TO CERTAIN VESSEL
Amendment by Pub. L. 100-329 not applicable to a vessel engaged
in the transportation of valueless material or valueless dredged
material and owned or chartered by a corporation that had on file
with Secretary of Transportation on Aug. 1, 1989, the certificate
specified in section 883-1 of this Appendix, see section 5501(c) of
Pub. L. 102-587, set out as a note under section 883 of this
Appendix.
Last modified: April 20, 2006
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