§1605 — Title 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters | U.S. Code

Summary

Lets the Secretary of the Navy (for Navy ships) or the head of the department running the Coast Guard (for other U.S. ships) officially say a ship cannot meet international rules about lights, shapes, or sound signals if following those rules would stop the ship from doing its special job. When that happens, the ship must meet the rule as closely as possible, as the official says. Each such official statement must be published in the Federal Register and can cover a whole class of vessels.

Title 33, §1605

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any requirement of the International Regulations with respect to the number, position, range, or arc of visibility of lights, with respect to shapes, or with respect to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, shall not be applicable to a vessel of special construction or purpose, whenever the Secretary of the Navy, for any vessel of the Navy, or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, for any other vessel of the United States, shall certify that the vessel cannot comply fully with that requirement without interfering with the special function of the vessel.

(b)Whenever a certification is issued under the authority of subsection (a) of this section, the vessel involved shall comply with the requirement as to which the certification is made to the extent that the Secretary issuing the certification shall certify as the closest possible compliance by that vessel.

(c)Notice of the certifications issued pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be published in the Federal Register.

(d)A certification authorized by this section may be issued for a class of vessels.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 96–591 added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

§1605 Navy and Coast Guard Vessels of Special Construction or Purpose