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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73not60

§51901 Awards for Individual Acts or Service

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle V— Merchant Marine › Part B— Merchant Marine Service › Chapter 519— MERCHANT MARINE AWARDS › § 51901

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation may give medals and other awards (like ribbons, pins, plaques, and small replicas) to people in the U.S. merchant marine for individual acts or service. The awards can look like similar military medals. The Secretary may give four kinds of awards: a Distinguished Service Medal for acts beyond the call of duty; a Meritorious Service Medal for notable duty-level acts; medals for service in war, a declared national emergency, or dangerous overseas operations; and medals for clear bravery and extreme heroism in dangerous situations.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §51901

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Transportation may award decorations and medals of appropriate design (including ribbons, ribbon bars, emblems, rosettes, miniature facsimiles, plaques, citations, or other suitable devices or insignia) for individual acts or service in the merchant marine of the United States. The design may be similar to the design of a decoration or medal authorized for members of the armed forces for similar acts or service.
(b)The Secretary may award—
(1)a Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal to an individual for outstanding acts, conduct, or valor beyond the line of duty;
(2)a Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal to an individual for meritorious acts, conduct, or valor in the line of duty, but not of the outstanding character that would warrant the award of the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal;
(3)a decoration or medal to an individual for service during a war, national emergency proclaimed by the President or Congress, or operations by the armed forces outside the continental United States under conditions of danger to life and property; and
(4)a decoration or medal to an individual for other acts or service of conspicuous gallantry, intrepidity, and extraordinary heroism under conditions of danger to life and property that would warrant a similar decoration or medal for a member of the armed forces.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 51901(a)46 App.:2001.Pub. L. 100–324, §§ 2, 3, 5(d), May 30, 1988, 102 Stat. 576, 577. 46 App.:2004(d). 51901(b)46 App.:2002.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 51901

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60