33 U.S.C. § 2022
Section 2022 · Visibility of lights (Rule 22)
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Archer Daniels Midland Co. v. M/V Freeport (1989)
Most recently applied in Commonwealth v. Martin (January 2010)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The lights prescribed in these Rules shall have an intensity as specified in Annex I to these Rules, so as to be visible at the following minimum ranges:
In a vessel of 50 meters or more in length:
a masthead light, 6 miles;
a sidelight, 3 miles;
a sternlight, 3 miles;
a towing light, 3 miles;
a white, red, green or yellow all-round light, 3 miles; and
a special flashing light, 2 miles.
In a vessel of 12 meters or more in length but less than 50 meters in length:
a masthead light, 5 miles; except that where the length of the vessel is less than 20 meters, 3 miles;
a sidelight, 2 miles;
a sternlight, 2 miles;
a towing light, 2 miles;
a white, red, green or yellow all-round light, 2 miles; and
a special flashing light, 2 miles.
In a vessel of less than 12 meters in length:
a masthead light, 2 miles;
a sidelight, 1 mile;
a sternlight, 2 miles;
a towing light, 2 miles;
a white, red, green or yellow all-round light, 2 miles; and
a special flashing light, 2 miles.
In an inconspicuous, partly submerged vessel or object being towed:
a white all-round light, 3 miles.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
These Rules, referred to in text, are the Inland Navigational Rules which are classified to this subchapter.
Annex I to these Rules, referred to in text, is to be established by the Secretary under section 2071 of this title.
Codification
Section was enacted as part of section 2 of Pub. L. 96–591 which enacted the Inland Navigational Rules which comprise this subchapter.