46 U.S.C. § 31341
Section 31341 · Persons presumed to have authority to procure necessaries
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 43 court decisions — leading case Garanti Finansal Kiralama A.S. v. Aqua Marine & Trading Inc. (2012)
Most recently applied in Praxis Energy Agents Pte LTD v. M/V Pebble Beach (September 2018)
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) The following persons are presumed to have authority to procure necessaries for a vessel:
(1) the owner;
(2) the master;
(3) a person entrusted with the management of the vessel at the port of supply; or
(4) an officer or agent appointed by—
(A) the owner;
(B) a charterer;
(C) an owner pro hac vice; or
(D) an agreed buyer in possession of the vessel.
(b) A person tortiously or unlawfully in possession or charge of a vessel has no authority to procure necessaries for the vessel.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Section 31341(a) lists those persons who are presumed to have authority to procure necessaries for a vessel. These include the owner, master, or a manager at the port of supply; and an officer or agent appointed by the owner, charterer, owner pro hac vice, or buyer in possession of the vessel. This subsection makes no substantive change to law.
Section 31341(b) provides that any person that is tortiously or unlawfully in possession of or in charge of a vessel has no authority to procure necessaries. This subsection makes no substantive change to law.
Amendments
1989—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 101–225 substituted “management” for “mangement”.