46 U.S.C. § 9101
Section 9101 · Standards for foreign tank vessels
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case International Ass'n of Independent Tanker Owners v. Locke (1998)
Most recently applied in Portland Pipe Line Corp. v. City of S. Portland (December 2017)
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)(1) The Secretary shall evaluate the manning, training, qualification, and watchkeeping standards of a foreign country that issues documentation for any vessel to which chapter 37 of this title applies—
(A) on a periodic basis; and
(B) when the vessel is involved in a marine casualty required to be reported under section 6101(a)(4) or (5) of this title.
(2) After each evaluation made under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Secretary shall determine whether—
(A) the foreign country has standards for licensing and certification of seamen that are at least equivalent to United States law or international standards accepted by the United States; and
(B) those standards are being enforced.
(3) If the Secretary determines under this subsection that a country has failed to maintain or enforce standards at least equivalent to United States law or international standards accepted by the United States, the Secretary shall prohibit vessels issued documentation by that country from entering the United States until the Secretary determines those standards have been established and are being enforced.
(4) The Secretary may allow provisional entry of a vessel prohibited from entering the United States under paragraph (3) of this subsection if—
(A) the owner or operator of the vessel establishes, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that the vessel is not unsafe or a threat to the marine environment; or
(B) the entry is necessary for the safety of the vessel or individuals on the vessel.
(b) A foreign vessel to which chapter 37 of this title applies that has on board oil or hazardous material in bulk as cargo or cargo residue shall have a specified number of personnel certified as tankerman or equivalent, as required by the Secretary, when the vessel transfers oil or hazardous material in a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The requirement of this subsection shall be noted in applicable terminal operating procedures. A transfer operation may take place only if the crewmember in charge is capable of clearly understanding instructions in English.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Section 9101 requires monitoring of manning standards for foreign tank vessels operating on the navigable waters of the United States and transferring oil or hazardous material in the United States.
Subsection (a) requires the Secretary of Transportation to evaluate the manning, training, qualification, and watchkeeping standards of foreign countries whose tank vessels operate on United States waters, or use transfer facilities, and to decide if the standards are equivalent or more stringent than United States standards.
Subsection (b) authorizes the Secretary to specify the number of tankermen required on a foreign tank vessel and to have certified tankermen who can understand English when transferring oil or hazardous material in the United States. This requirement is to be made part of the terminal operating procedures.
Amendments
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–380 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “The Secretary shall—
“(1) periodically evaluate the manning, training, qualification, and watchkeeping standards prescribed by the certificating country of a foreign vessel to which chapter 37 of this title applies, that operates on the navigable waters of the United States and transfers oil or hazardous material in a port or place under the jurisdiction of the United States; and
“(2) after each evaluation made under clause (1) of this subsection, decide whether the foreign country, whose system for licensing and certification of seamen was evaluated, has standards that are equivalent to or more stringent than United States standards or international standards accepted by the United States.”
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as an Effective Date note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters.