Title 46, ShippingRelease 119-102
§7701 General
Title 46 › Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen › Part E — Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents › CHAPTER 77 — SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION › § 7701
Summary
Promote safety at sea by allowing suspension or revocation of maritime licenses, certificates, and documents for acts in section 7703. Reissue only after (1) the Secretary, under rules, finds reissuance compatible with discipline and safety, and (2) the person proves the grounds no longer apply; the Secretary may make regulations.
Full Legal Text
Title 46, §7701
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(a)The purpose of suspension and revocation proceedings is to promote safety at sea.
(b)Licenses, certificates of registry, and merchant mariners’ documents may be suspended or revoked for acts described in section 7703 of this title.
(c)When a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document has been revoked under this chapter, the former holder may be issued a new license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document only after—
(1)the Secretary decides, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, that the issuance is compatible with the requirement of good discipline and safety at sea; and
(2)the former holder provides satisfactory proof that the bases for revocation are no longer valid.
(d)The Secretary may prescribe regulations to carry out this chapter.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 770146:239(g) section 7701 establishes the general purpose of suspension and revocation proceedings, which is to promote safety at sea. This section also provides the Secretary with the authority to suspend or revoke licenses, certificates, and documents, as well as the authority to issue a new license, certificate or document to an individual when the issuance is compatible with the requirements of good discipline and safety at sea. It also provides for necessary regulatory authority to carry out its purposes.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–380 amended subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: “When a license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document has been revoked under this chapter, the former holder may be issued a new license, certificate, or document only after it has been decided, under
Regulations
prescribed by the Secretary, that the issuance is compatible with the requirements of good discipline and safety at sea.”
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
46 U.S.C. § 7701
Title 46, Shipping
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102