Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73not60
§14522 Measurement
Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— Vessels and Seamen › Part J— Measurement of Vessels › Chapter 145— REGULATORY MEASUREMENT › Subchapter III— SIMPLIFIED SYSTEM › § 14522
Summary
The Secretary must assign gross and net tonnages using a vessel's length (the hull distance from stem to stern, excluding fittings), breadth, depth, and other dimensions with coefficients, and set how to measure the other dimensions. Tonnages must reflect internal volume, match net-to-gross ratios of comparable vessels, and may be copied from a representative vessel to others of the same class.
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §14522
Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In this section, “length” means the horizontal distance of the hull between the foremost part of the stem and the aftermost part of the stern, excluding fittings and attachments.
(b)(1)The Secretary shall assign gross and net tonnages to a vessel based on its length, breadth, depth, other dimensions, and appropriate coefficients.
(2)The Secretary shall prescribe the way dimensions (except length) are measured and which coefficients are appropriate.
(c)The resulting gross tonnages, taken as a group, reasonably shall reflect the relative internal volumes of the vessels measured under this subchapter. The resulting net tonnages shall be in approximately the same ratios to corresponding gross tonnages as are the net and gross tonnages of comparable vessels measured under subchapter II of this chapter.
(d)Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, the Secretary may determine the gross and net tonnages of a vessel representative of a designated class, model, or type, and then assign those gross and net tonnages to other vessels of the same class, model, or type.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised section 14522 Source: Section (U.S. Code) 46 App. U.S.C. 71. section 14522(a) defines the term “length” as it is used in the simplified measurement system. section 14522(b) requires the Secretary to assign gross and net tonnages under the simplified system, based on a vessel’s length, breadth, depth, other dimensions and appropriate coefficients, as the Secretary deems appropriate. section 14522(c) provides that the gross tonnages as measured under this section shall reflect the relative internal volumes of vessels. It provides further that the net tonnages measured under this section shall be in approximately the same ratio to corresponding gross tonnages as are the net and gross tonnages of comparable vessels measured under the standard regulatory measurement system.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 14522
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60