Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73

§10906 Discharge of crew for unsuitability

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part G— - Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief › Chapter CHAPTER 109— - PROCEEDINGS ON UNSEAWORTHINESS › § 10906

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

When surveyors inspect a ship at a foreign port, they must say if it was sent out poorly supplied and whether that was from neglect, design, mistake, or accident. If neglect or design caused it and a consular officer agrees, a seaman who asks may be discharged and the master must pay one month's wages plus any wages then due, or enough money to return the seaman to the nearest U.S. port, whichever is greater.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §10906

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

When a survey is made at a foreign port, the surveyors shall state in the report whether, in their opinion, the vessel had been sent to sea unsuitably provided in any important particular, by neglect or design or through mistake or accident. If by neglect or design, and the consular officer approves the finding, the officer shall discharge a seaman requesting discharge and shall require the master to pay one month’s wages to that seaman in addition to wages then due, or sufficient money for the return of the seaman to the nearest and most convenient port of the United States, whichever is the greater amount.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1090646:658 section 10906 provides that if a consular officer finds that a vessel has been sent to sea in an unsuitable state, a crew member requesting discharge must be paid one month’s additional wages and passage to the United States.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 10906

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73