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Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-102

§3779 Insurance

Title 22 › CHAPTER 51 — PANAMA CANAL › SUBCHAPTER I — ADMINISTRATION AND REGULATIONS › Part 4 — Claims for Injuries to Persons or Property › subpart ii — vessel damage › § 3779

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commission may buy insurance to protect itself from big, unexpected costs from major marine accidents or other sudden events. The Commission can also make rules that anyone who could make a claim under sections 3771 or 3772 must carry insurance while transiting or being in the Panama Canal or nearby waters. The rule will set how much insurance is needed, but it cannot be more than $1,000,000. If the Commission requires insurance, it only pays losses that exceed the required insurance amount. The Commission may also bar claims brought by an insurer or someone standing in for the claimant in those cases.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §3779

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Commission is authorized to purchase insurance to protect the Commission against major and unpredictable revenue losses or expenses arising from catastrophic marine accidents or other unpredictable events.
(b)(1)The Commission may by regulation require as a condition of transit through the Panama Canal or presence in the Panama Canal or waters adjacent thereto that any potential claimant under section 3771 or 3772 of this title be covered by insurance against the types of injuries described in those sections. The amount of insurance so required shall be specified in those regulations, but may not exceed $1,000,000.
(2)In a claim under section 3771 or 3772 of this title for which the Commission has required insurance under this subsection, the Commission’s liability shall be limited to the amount of damages in excess of the amount of insurance required by the Commission.
(3)In regulations under this subsection, the Commission may prohibit consideration or payment by it of claims presented by or on behalf of an insurer or subrogee of a claimant in a case for which the Commission has required insurance under this subsection.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Pub. L. 105–261 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b). 1987—Pub. L. 100–203 inserted “or other unpredictable events” after “marine accidents”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section applicable to any claim arising on or after Dec. 23, 1985, see section 7(b)(1) of Pub. L. 99–209, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1985 Amendment note under section 3771 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 3779

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102