Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part B— - Inspection and Regulation of Vessels › Chapter CHAPTER 33— - INSPECTION GENERALLY › § 3314
If a vessel’s inspection certificate runs out while the ship is on a foreign trip, the ship may finish that trip to a U.S. port within 30 days after the certificate expired without being punished for sailing without a certificate. If the certificate would expire within 15 days of leaving a U.S. port for a foreign trip, the ship must get a new certificate before sailing unless the trip will end before the certificate runs out. If the trip does not finish on time, penalties can apply unless the delay was beyond the control of the owner, charterer, managing operator, agent, master, or person in charge. For foreign passenger ships on a regular route whose certificate expires at sea after leaving their home country or while in the U.S., the Secretary may allow them to keep following their normal schedule without extra inspections, but only if the ship will be inspected and issued a certificate before its next return to the United States.
Full Legal Text
Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 3314
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73