46 U.S.C. § 3201
Section 3201 · Definitions
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 945 F. Supp. 2d 1351 - Cohen v. Carnival Corp. (2013)
Most recently applied in Bouchard Transp. Co. v. Dep't of Homeland Sec. (March 2019)
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.
In this chapter—
(1) “International Safety Management Code” has the same meaning given that term in chapter IX of the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974;
(2) “responsible person” means—
(A) the owner of a vessel to which this chapter applies; or
(B) any other person that has—
(i) assumed the responsibility for operation of a vessel to which this chapter applies from the owner; and
(ii) agreed to assume with respect to the vessel responsibility for complying with all the requirements of this chapter and the regulations prescribed under this chapter.
(3) “vessel engaged on a foreign voyage” means a vessel to which this chapter applies—
(A) arriving at a place under the jurisdiction of the United States from a place in a foreign country;
(B) making a voyage between places outside the United States; or
(C) departing from a place under the jurisdiction of the United States for a place in a foreign country.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Vessel Management Methods Study
Section 602(c) of Pub. L. 104–324 provided that:
“(1) In general.—The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall conduct, in cooperation with the owners, charterers, and managing operators of vessels documented under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, and other interested persons, a study of the methods that may be used to implement and enforce the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention under chapter IX of the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974.
“(2) Report.—The Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report of the results of the study required under paragraph (1) before the earlier of—
“(A) the date that final regulations are prescribed under section 3203 of title 46, United States Code (as enacted by subsection (a)[)]; or
“(B) the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 19, 1996].”
International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea
For International Conventions for the Safety of Life at Sea to which the United States has been a party, see section 1602 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters, and notes thereunder.