Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-110

§56503 Types of Adjustments and Arrangements

Title 46 › Subtitle V — Merchant Marine › Part E — Control of Merchant Marine Capabilities › CHAPTER 565 — ESSENTIAL VESSELS AFFECTED BY NEUTRALITY ACT › § 56503

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

An adjustment or arrangement must stop the requirement that a vessel be used in foreign trade under any subsidy contract, mortgage, or similar agreement, and it must stop the vessel’s right to an operating-differential subsidy. The Secretary of Transportation may also, when appropriate, allow measures such as laying the vessel up with the government paying necessary costs or a fixed allowance; postponing or rearranging government loan principal payments for up to the lay-up period; postponing or canceling interest during lay-up; extending the 20-year service-life limit and related rules for the lay-up period; or temporarily using the vessel in an emergency under approved terms. When the arrangement ends, the owner must pay the Secretary any net profits earned during the arrangement that exceed 10 percent per year on the capital used in the business, to reimburse postponed or canceled obligations and expenses. A vessel laid up or operated under the arrangement counts as part of that capital, and the Secretary may require such a vessel as security for repayment.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §56503

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(a)Suspension Requirements.—
An adjustment or arrangement under this chapter shall include suspension of— (1)
(2)the right to operating-differential subsidy for the vessel.
(b)Discretionary Adjustments and Arrangements.—
To the extent the Secretary of Transportation considers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this subtitle, an adjustment or arrangement under this chapter may include any of the following:
(1)Lay-up of the vessel by the owner or in the custody of the Secretary, with payment or reimbursement by the Secretary of necessary and proper expenses (including reasonable overhead and insurance) or a fixed periodic allowance instead of payment or reimbursement.
(2)Postponement, for not more than the total period of the lay-up, of the maturity date of each installment of the principal of obligations to the United States Government for the vessel (regardless of whether the maturity date is during a lay-up period), or rearrangement of those maturities.
(3)Postponement or cancellation of interest accruing on the obligations during a lay-up period.
(4)Extension, for not more than the total period of the lay-up, of the 20-year life limitation for the vessel and other limitations and provisions of this subtitle based on a 20-year life.
(5)Provision for temporary or emergency employment of the vessel (instead of lay-up) as may be practicable, with such arrangements for management of the vessel, payment of expenses, and application of the proceeds of the employment, as the Secretary may approve, with any period of operation being included as part of the lay-up period.
(6)Payment to the Secretary, on termination of the arrangements with the applicant, of the applicant’s net profits (earned while the arrangements were in effect) in excess of 10 percent a year on the capital necessarily employed in the applicant’s business, as reimbursement for obligations postponed or canceled and expenses incurred or paid by the Secretary under this section.
(c)Laid-Up Vessels.—
Under subsection (b)(6), capital of the applicant represented by a vessel of the applicant laid-up or operated under this section shall be included in capital necessarily employed in the applicant’s business. The Secretary may require a vessel laid-up or operated under this section to be security for reimbursement.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 5650346 App.:1242a(c).June 29, 1940, ch. 442, subdiv. (c), 54 Stat. 685; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(132), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 165.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 56503

Title 46, Shipping

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110