Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73
§7508 Authority to extend the duration of medical certificates
Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part E— - Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents › Chapter CHAPTER 75— - GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR LICENSING, CERTIFICATION, AND DOCUMENTATION › § 7508
Summary
The Secretary may extend mariners’ medical certificates for up to one year so the Coast Guard can clear a processing backlog or in a national emergency or natural disaster. Extensions can be given to one person or to a specifically identified group.
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §7508
Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may extend for not more than one year a medical certificate issued to an individual holding a license, merchant mariner’s document, or certificate of registry issued under chapter 71 or 73 if the Secretary determines that the extension is required to enable the Coast Guard to eliminate a backlog in processing applications for medical certificates or is in response to a national emergency or natural disaster.
(b)An extension under this section may be granted to an individual or a specifically identified group of individuals.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “an individual or a specifically identified group of individuals” for “individual seamen or a specifically identified group of seamen”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 7508
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73