Title 33Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73

§1604 Vessels not subject to International Regulations

Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 30— - INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA › § 1604

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The international rules do not apply to vessels inside U.S. waters within the demarcation lines; U.S. vessels in a foreign state's territorial waters must follow those rules unless the foreign state's laws conflict.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §1604

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The International Regulations do not apply to vessels while in the waters of the United States shoreward of the navigational demarcation lines dividing the high seas from harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States.
(b)Whenever a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States is in the territorial waters of a foreign state the International Regulations shall be applicable to, and shall be complied with by, that vessel to the extent that the laws and regulations of the foreign state are not in conflict therewith.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–591 substituted provision providing that the International

Regulations

do not apply to vessels while in the waters of the United States shoreward of the navigational demarcation lines dividing the high seas from harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States for provisions that had made specific reference to harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States, as defined in section 154 of this title, to the Great Lakes of North America and their connecting and tributary waters, as defined in section 241 of this title, and to the Red River of the North and rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and their tributaries, as defined in section 301 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1980 Amendment Pub. L. 96–591, § 7, Dec. 24, 1980, 94 Stat. 3435, provided that: “section 2, 4, 6(1), and 8(a) [enacting section 2072 and former sections 2001 to 2038 of this title, amending this section, and repealing sections 154 to 159, 171 to 183, 191, 192, 201 to 213, 221, 222, 231, 232, 301 to 303, 311 to 323, 331, 341 to 356, 360, and 360a of this title and section 526b, 526c, and 526d of former Title 46, Shipping] are effective 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 24, 1980], except that on the Great Lakes, the

Effective Date

of section 2 and 4 [enacting section 2072 and former sections 2001 to 2038 of this title] will be established by the Secretary. [The

Effective Date

on the Great Lakes was established as Mar. 1, 1983. See 47 F.R. 15135, Apr. 8, 1982.] section 5 [enacting section 2073 of this title] is effective on October 1, 1981.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 1604

Title 33Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73