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Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-102

§10316 Trusts

Title 46 › Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen › Part G — Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief › CHAPTER 103 — FOREIGN AND INTERCOASTAL VOYAGES › § 10316

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

An employer may take money from a seaman’s pay if the seaman gives written permission and two conditions are met. The money must go into a trust only for that employer’s seamen (or shared with seamen from other employers) and their families, and the trust can use the money or the interest it earns to pay any of seven benefits: medical or hospital care; pensions for retirement or death; life insurance; unemployment benefits; compensation for work injuries; sickness, accident, and disability pay; or buying insurance to provide these benefits.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §10316

Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

section 10314 and 10315 of this title do not prevent an employer from making deductions from the wages of a seaman, with the written consent of the seaman, if—
(1)the deductions are paid into a trust fund established only for the benefit of seamen employed by that employer, and the families and dependents of those seamen (or of those seamen, families, and dependents jointly with other seamen employed by other employers, and the families and dependents of the other seamen); and
(2)the payments are held in trust to provide, from principal or interest, or both, any of the following benefits for those seamen and their families and dependents:
(A)medical or hospital care, or both.
(B)pensions on retirement or death of the seaman.
(C)life insurance.
(D)unemployment benefits.
(E)compensation for illness or injuries resulting from occupational activity.
(F)sickness, accident, and disability compensation.
(G)purchasing insurance to provide any of the benefits specified in this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1031646:599(g) section 10316 qualifies the two previous sections by allowing an employer to make deductions from seamen’s wages for the purpose of placing the wages into a trust fund or holding them in trust to provide for the seamen’s benefit.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 10316

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102