Title 46ShippingRelease 119-73

§7106 Duration of licenses

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part E— - Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents › Chapter CHAPTER 71— - LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY › § 7106

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Licenses are valid 5 years and renewable for 5-year periods. Radio officers must continuously hold first- or second-class FCC radiotelegraph operator licenses. Renewals may be issued up to 8 months early but take effect after license expires or suspension/revocation ends.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §7106

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(a)A license issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods; except that the validity of a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission.
(b)A renewed license issued under this part may be issued up to 8 months in advance but is not effective until the date that the previously issued license expires or until the completion of any active suspension or revocation of that previously issued license, whichever is later.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 710646:214(c)46:22546:22646:22846:22946:229c section 7106 sets a 5 year time limit on the validity of a license. It also requires a licensed radio officer to be in continuous possession of an FCC license.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–282 substituted “license, whichever” for “merchant mariner’s document, whichever”. 2010—Pub. L. 111–281 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “A license issued under this part is valid for 5 years and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods. However, the validity of a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission.” 1990—Pub. L. 101–380 inserted “and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods” after “for 5 years”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters. Termination of Existing Licenses, Certificates, and Documents; Applicability of 1990 Amendment Pub. L. 101–380, title IV, § 4102(d), Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 510, provided that: “A license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document issued before the date of the enactment of this section [Aug. 18, 1990] terminates on the day it would have expired if— “(1) subsections (a), (b), and (c) [amending this section and section 7107 and 7302 of this title] were in effect on the date it was issued; and “(2) it was renewed at the end of each 5-year period under section 7106, 7107, or 7302 of title 46, United States Code.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 7106

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Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73