46 U.S.C. § 10317
Section 10317 · Loss of lien and right to wages
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Small Business Administration v. Bubert (1987)
Most recently applied in Balen v. Holland America Line Inc. (October 2009)
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.
A master or seaman by any agreement other than one provided for in this chapter may not forfeit the master's or seaman's lien on the vessel or be deprived of a remedy to which the master or seaman otherwise would be entitled for the recovery of wages. A stipulation in an agreement inconsistent with this chapter, or a stipulation by which a seaman consents to abandon a right to wages if the vessel is lost, or to abandon a right the seaman may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, is void.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Section 10317 prohibits a master or seaman from entering into an agreement which forfeits his or her lien on the vessel or other remedy for recovery of wages, and renders such agreements void.