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Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-102

§10906 Discharge of Crew for Unsuitability

Title 46 › Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen › Part G — Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief › CHAPTER 109 — PROCEEDINGS ON UNSEAWORTHINESS › § 10906

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Surveyors at a foreign port must say if, in their view, a ship was sent to sea without proper supplies or equipment in any important way—whether from neglect, on purpose, by mistake, or by accident. If a consular officer agrees it was by neglect or on purpose, any seaman who asks must be allowed to leave the ship, and the ship’s master must pay that seaman one month’s wages in addition to wages already owed, or give enough money to send the seaman back to the nearest U.S. port, whichever amount is larger.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §10906

Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

When a survey is made at a foreign port, the surveyors shall state in the report whether, in their opinion, the vessel had been sent to sea unsuitably provided in any important particular, by neglect or design or through mistake or accident. If by neglect or design, and the consular officer approves the finding, the officer shall discharge a seaman requesting discharge and shall require the master to pay one month’s wages to that seaman in addition to wages then due, or sufficient money for the return of the seaman to the nearest and most convenient port of the United States, whichever is the greater amount.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1090646:658 section 10906 provides that if a consular officer finds that a vessel has been sent to sea in an unsuitable state, a crew member requesting discharge must be paid one month’s additional wages and passage to the United States.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 10906

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102