Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§8628 Merchant Vessels: Supplies
Title 10 › Subtitle C — Navy and Marine Corps › PART IV — GENERAL ADMINISTRATION › CHAPTER 861 — SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: MISCELLANEOUS POWERS AND DUTIES › § 8628
Summary
The Secretary of the Navy may sell fuel and supplies to a merchant ship that cannot get them where it is and cannot reach the nearest port without endangering the ship, the crew, or the cargo. Prices must be reasonable; payment must ensure prompt cash; proceeds go to the current appropriation unless another law directs otherwise.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §8628
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Secretary of the Navy, under such regulations as he prescribes, may sell to a merchant ship such fuel and other supplies as may be required to meet its necessities if the ship is unable—
(1)to procure the supplies from other sources at its present location; and
(2)to proceed to the nearest port where they may be obtained without endangering the safety of the ship, the health and comfort of its personnel, or the safe condition of the property carried on it.
(b)Sales under this section shall be at such prices as the Secretary considers reasonable. Payment shall be made on a cash basis or on such other basis as will reasonably assure prompt payment. Amounts received from such a sale shall, unless otherwise directed by another provision of law, be credited to the current appropriation concerned and are available for the same purposes as that appropriation.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 722834 U.S.C. 555f.June 4, 1954, ch. 264, § 3, 68 Stat. 176.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 7228 of this title as this section.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of
Amendments
and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 8628
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102