§1115 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

People who work on steamboats or other vessels — like captains, engineers, pilots, or anyone else on board — must not act badly, be careless, or fail to do their duties in a way that causes someone to die. If that happens, they can be fined under federal law, put in prison for up to ten years, or both. Owners, charterers, inspectors, or other government officials whose fraud, neglect, deliberate wrongdoing, or breaking the law causes a death face the same penalties. If a company owns the vessel, an executive who actually runs or manages the vessel and who knowingly and on purpose caused or allowed that conduct that led to a death is also subject to the same fine or up to ten years in prison, or both.

Title 18, §1115

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on any steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties on such vessel the life of any person is destroyed, and every owner, charterer, inspector, or other public officer, through whose fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law the life of any person is destroyed, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. When the owner or charterer of any steamboat or vessel is a corporation, any executive officer of such corporation, for the time being actually charged with the control and management of the operation, equipment, or navigation of such steamboat or vessel, who has knowingly and willfully caused or allowed such fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law, by which the life of any person is destroyed, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 461 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 282, 35 Stat. 1144). Section restores the intent of the original enactments, R.S. § 5344, and act Mar. 3, 1905, ch. 1454, § 5, 33 Stat. 1025, and makes this section one of general application. In the Criminal Code of 1909, by placing it in chapter 11, limited to places within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, such original intent was inadvertently lost as indicated by the entire absence of report or comment on such limitation.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $10,000” in two places.

§1115 Misconduct or neglect of ship officers