Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle II— Vessels and Seamen › Part C— Load Lines of Vessels › Chapter 51— LOAD LINES › § 5101
Defines key ship and loading words used in the chapter. "Domestic voyage" means a ship trip between places in or under U.S. control, but not a trip between a U.S. territory or possession (or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) and a place outside that territory. "Economic benefit of the overloading" is the weight of the overload in tons times the smaller of either the trip’s average freight value per ton or $50. "Existing vessel" is a ship whose keel was laid (or was at a similar construction stage) before January 1, 1986 for domestic trips, or before July 21, 1968 for foreign trips. "Freeboard" is the vertical distance from the load-line mark to the freeboard deck. "Freeboard deck" is the deck the Secretary sets by rule. "Minimum safe freeboard" is the lowest freeboard the Secretary says can be used without making the ship unsafe to operate. "Weight of the overload" is the inches the ship is submerged past the assigned freeboard times the vessel’s tons‑per‑inch immersion factor at the assigned minimum safe freeboard.
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Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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Citation
46 U.S.C. § 5101
Title 46 — Shipping
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60