Title 18, Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-110
§1658 Plunder of Distressed Vessel
Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 81 — PIRACY AND PRIVATEERING › § 1658
Summary
Taking property from a distressed or wrecked ship in U.S. waters is punishable by a fine and up to 10 years in prison. Blocking someone trying to escape a wreck, or using fake or extinguished lights to cause shipwreck, carries at least 10 years and possibly life in prison.
Full Legal Text
Title 18, §1658
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Whoever plunders, steals, or destroys any money, goods, merchandise, or other effects from or belonging to any vessel in distress, or wrecked, lost, stranded, or cast away, upon the sea, or upon any reef, shoal, bank, or rocks of the sea, or in any other place within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b)Whoever willfully obstructs the escape of any person endeavoring to save his life from such vessel, or the wreck thereof; or Whoever holds out or shows any false light, or extinguishes any true light, with intent to bring any vessel sailing upon the sea into danger or distress or shipwreck— Shall be imprisoned not less than ten years and may be imprisoned for life.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 488 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 297, 35 Stat. 1146). Mandatory punishment provision in subsection (a) was rephrased in the alternative. Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 1658
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110