46 U.S.C. § 3704
Section 3704 · Coastwise trade vessels
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Shipbuilders Council of America v. United States Coast Guard (2009)
Most recently applied in 770 F. Supp. 2d 793 - Shipbuilders Council v. United States Department of Homeland Security (March 2011)
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 segregated ballast tank, a crude oil washing system, or an inert gas system, required by this chapter or a regulation prescribed under this chapter, on a vessel entitled to engage in the coastwise trade under chapter 551 of this title shall be installed in the United States (except the trust territories). A vessel failing to comply with this section may not engage in the coastwise trade.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Section 3704 requires any tank vessel that is entitled to engage in the coastwise trade to install certain equipment in the United States under the penalty of losing coastwise trading privileges if the installation work is done in a foreign country.
Amendments
2006—Pub. L. 109–304 substituted “chapter 551 of this title” for “section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 App. U.S.C. 883),”.