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Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-110

§50105 Studies and Cooperation Relating to the Construction of Vessels

Title 46 › Subtitle V — Merchant Marine › Part A — General › CHAPTER 501 — POLICY, STUDIES, AND REPORTS › § 50105

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require the Secretary of Transportation to research and keep current records on how much it costs to build similar ships in the United States versus other countries and to track new ship designs, building methods, and equipment. The Secretary must also review the rules used to build ships and how ships are classified and rated. The Secretary must work with ship owners and builders to plan cost‑effective ways to build ships and their engines, considering modern propulsion and the benefits of standardized production. The Secretary must also study and help create fast liners or very large liners, possibly with U.S. government help, so they match foreign ships and can be used in an emergency, and consider using long‑range aircraft instead of or along with those ships.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §50105

Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Relative Costs and New Designs.—
The Secretary of Transportation shall investigate, determine, and keep current records of— (1)
(2)new designs, new methods of construction, and new types of equipment for vessels.
(b)Rules, Classifications, and Ratings.—
The Secretary shall examine the rules under which vessels are constructed abroad and in the United States and the methods of classifying and rating the vessels.
(c)Collaboration With Owners and Builders.—
The Secretary shall collaborate with vessel owners and shipbuilders in developing plans for the economical construction of vessels and their propelling machinery, of most modern economical types, giving thorough consideration to all well-recognized means of propulsion and taking into account the benefits from standardized production where practicable and desirable.
(d)Express-Liner and Super-Liner Vessels.—
The Secretary shall study and cooperate with vessel owners in devising means by which there may be constructed, by or with the aid of the United States Government, express-liner or super-liner vessels comparable to those of other nations, especially with a view to their use in a national emergency, and the use of transoceanic aircraft service in connection with or in lieu of those vessels.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 50105(a)(1)46 App.:811 (1st sentence words before 1st comma).Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 451, § 12 (1st sentence words before 1st comma, 2d sentence words before 2d comma), 39 Stat. 732; Ex. Ord. No. 6166, § 12, eff. June 10, 1933; June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title II, § 204, title IX, § 904, 49 Stat. 1987, 2016; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(27), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 155. 46 App.:1121(d).June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title II, § 211(d), (j) (words before 1st semicolon), 49 Stat. 1989; Pub. L. 91–469, §§ 4(2), 35(a), Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1018, 1035; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(67), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 159. 50105(a)(2)46 App.:1121(j) (words before 1st semicolon). 50105(b)46 App.:811 (2d sentence words before 2d comma). 50105(c)46 App.:1122(c).June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title II, § 212(b)(2), (c), 49 Stat. 1990; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(69), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 159. 50105(d)46 App.:1122(b)(2).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 50105

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110