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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73

§7701 General

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Vessels and Seamen › Part Part E— - Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents › Chapter CHAPTER 77— - SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION › § 7701

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Keep people safe at sea. Licenses and other official seafaring papers can be temporarily taken away or permanently canceled for the wrongful acts listed in another part of the law. If a paper was canceled, a person can get a new one only after the Secretary, following rules the Secretary makes, finds it fits good discipline and safety and the person proves the original reasons for canceling no longer apply. The Secretary may make rules to carry out this chapter.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §7701

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The purpose of suspension and revocation proceedings is to promote safety at sea.
(b)Licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariners’ documents may be suspended or revoked for acts described in section 7703 of this title.
(c)When a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document has been revoked under this chapter, the former holder may be issued a new license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document only after—
(1)the Secretary decides, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, that the issuance is compatible with the requirement of good discipline and safety at sea; and
(2)the former holder provides satisfactory proof that the bases for revocation are no longer valid.
(d)The Secretary may prescribe regulations to carry out this chapter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 770146:239(g) section 7701 establishes the general purpose of suspension and revocation proceedings, which is to promote safety at sea. This section also provides the Secretary with the authority to suspend or revoke licenses, certificates, and documents, as well as the authority to issue a new license, certificate or document to an individual when the issuance is compatible with the requirements of good discipline and safety at sea. It also provides for necessary regulatory authority to carry out its purposes.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–380 amended subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: “When a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document has been revoked under this chapter, the former holder may be issued a new license, certificate, or document only after it has been decided, under

Regulations

prescribed by the Secretary, that the issuance is compatible with the requirements of good discipline and safety at sea.”

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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 7701

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73