Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73
§10317 Loss of lien and right to wages
Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part G— - Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief › Chapter CHAPTER 103— - FOREIGN AND INTERCOASTAL VOYAGES › § 10317
Summary
No agreement — except ones allowed under this law — can make a captain or sailor give up a legal claim on the ship or lose their ability to collect unpaid wages. Any clause that contradicts the law, or that makes a sailor give up wages if the ship is lost or give up rights like salvage payments, is void.
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §10317
Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
A master or seaman by any agreement other than one provided for in this chapter may not forfeit the master’s or seaman’s lien on the vessel or be deprived of a remedy to which the master or seaman otherwise would be entitled for the recovery of wages. A stipulation in an agreement inconsistent with this chapter, or a stipulation by which a seaman consents to abandon a right to wages if the vessel is lost, or to abandon a right the seaman may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, is void.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1031746:600 section 10317 prohibits a master or seaman from entering into an agreement which forfeits his or her lien on the vessel or other remedy for recovery of wages, and renders such agreements void.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 10317
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73