46 U.S.C. § 8904
Section 8904 · Towing vessels
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case First Specialty Insurance v. American Home Assurance Co. (2009)
Most recently applied in Shell Offshore, Inc. v. Tesla Offshore, L.L.C. (October 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) A towing vessel that is at least 26 feet in length measured from end to end over the deck (excluding sheer), shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel in the particular geographic area, under prescribed regulations.
(b) A vessel that tows a disabled vessel for consideration shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel in the particular geographic area, under prescribed regulations.
(c) The Secretary may prescribe by regulation requirements for maximum hours of service (including recording and recordkeeping of that service) of individuals engaged on a towing vessel that is at least 26 feet in length measured from end to end over the deck (excluding the sheer).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Section 8904 requires that a 26-foot or larger towing vessel be operated by a licensed individual for that type of vessel and for a particular geographic area.
Amendments
2004—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 108–293 added subsec. (c).
1986—Pub. L. 99–640 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Pub. L. 99–640, §12(b), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3551, provided that: “The amendments made by subsection (a) of this section [amending this section] shall take effect on January 1, 1988.”
Demonstration Project
Pub. L. 108–293, title IV, §409(b), Aug. 9, 2004, 118 Stat. 1045, provided that: “Prior to prescribing regulations under this section [amending this section] the Secretary shall conduct and report to the Congress on the results of a demonstration project involving the implementation of Crew Endurance Management Systems on towing vessels. The report shall include a description of the public and private sector resources needed to enable implementation of Crew Endurance Management Systems on all United States-flag towing vessels.”