Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-102
§386 Commissioning Private Vessels for Seizure of Piratical Vessels
Title 33 › CHAPTER 7 — REGULATIONS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY › § 386
Summary
The President can order commanders of U.S. armed ships, commanders of privately armed ships approved by Congress, or other suitable vessels to seize ships or boats of the kind described in section 385. If they catch them on the open sea, they can send those captured vessels into any U.S. port.
Full Legal Text
Title 33, §386
Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The President is authorized to instruct the commanders of the public-armed vessels of the United States, and to authorize the commanders of any other armed vessels sailing under the authority of any letters of marque and reprisal granted by Congress, or the commanders of any other suitable vessels, to subdue, seize, take, and, if on the high seas, to send into any port of the United States, any vessel or boat built, purchased, fitted out, or held as mentioned in section 385 of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 4298 derived from act Aug. 5, 1861, ch. 48, § 2, 12 Stat. 315.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
33 U.S.C. § 386
Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102