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Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-110

§50504 Sailing School Vessels

Title 46 › Subtitle V — Merchant Marine › Part A — General › CHAPTER 505 — OTHER GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 50504

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

People who teach or learn on a sailing school vessel are not treated as seamen under parts B, F, and G of subtitle II of this title, nor under the maritime rules called maintenance and cure or warranty of seaworthiness. A sailing school vessel is not a merchant vessel under section 11101(a)–(c) and is not engaged in trade or commerce. The owner or charterer must keep proof they can pay for death or injury to students and instructors on a voyage on the vessel—at least $50,000 for each student and instructor—shown by insurance or other adequate funds. Definitions: sailing school instructor (teacher), sailing school student (learner), sailing school vessel (training vessel) — defined in section 2101.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §50504

Shipping, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definitions.—
In this section, the terms “sailing school instructor”, “sailing school student”, and “sailing school vessel” have the meaning given those terms in section 2101 of this title.
(b)Not Seamen.—
A sailing school student or sailing school instructor is deemed not to be a seaman under—
(1)parts B, F, and G of subtitle II of this title; or
(2)the maritime law doctrines of maintenance and cure or warranty of seaworthiness.
(c)Not Merchant Vessel or Engaged in Trade or Commerce.—
A sailing school vessel is deemed not to be—
(1)a merchant vessel under section 11101(a)–(c) of this title; or
(2)a vessel engaged in trade or commerce.
(d)Evidence of Financial Responsibility.—
The owner or charterer of a sailing school vessel shall maintain evidence of financial responsibility to meet liability for death or injury to sailing school students and sailing school instructors on a voyage on the vessel. The amount of financial responsibility shall be at least $50,000 for each student and instructor. Financial responsibility under this subsection may be evidenced by insurance or other adequate financial resources.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 50504(a)46 App.:446c.Pub. L. 97–322, title II, §§ 204, 205, 207, Oct. 15, 1982, 96 Stat. 1589. 50504(b)46 App.:446. 50504(c)46 App.:446b.Pub. L. 97–322, title II, § 206, Oct. 15, 1982, 96 Stat. 1590; Pub. L. 98–557, § 34(b), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2876. 50504(d)46 App.:446a. In subsection (b)(1), the words “parts B, F, and G of subtitle II of this title” are substituted for “the provisions of titles 52 and 53 of the Revised Statutes of the United States and any Act amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto” because the relevant provisions of titles 52 and 53 of the Revised Statutes were previously codified in parts B, F, and G of subtitle II of title 46. In subsection (c), references to 46 App. U.S.C. 291 and 883 are omitted for consistency with section 50503 of the revised title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 50504

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110