Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-102
§355 Survival Craft
Title 47 › CHAPTER 5 — WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION › SUBCHAPTER III — SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO › Part II — Radio Equipment and Radio Operators On Board Ship › § 355
Summary
Every ship that is required to carry radios for lifeboats or other survival craft under a treaty, law, or matching regulation must have effective radio equipment to protect lives. The Commission sets the safety rules, and “radio equipment” includes both portable and nonportable (fixed) radios.
Full Legal Text
Title 47, §355
Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Every ship required to be provided with survival craft radio by treaty to which the United States is a party, by statute, or by regulation made in conformity with a treaty, convention, or statute, shall be fitted with efficient radio equipment appropriate to such requirement under such rules and regulations as the Commission may find necessary for safety of life. For purposes of this section, “radio equipment” shall include portable as well as nonportable apparatus.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1965—Pub. L. 89–121 substituted “survival craft” for “lifeboat”. 1954—Act Aug. 13, 1954, § 2(a)(1), amended credit to section by changing section number from “355” to “357” of act June 19, 1934. Act Aug. 13, 1954, § 2(e), provided that lifeboats be equipped with “radio equipment” rather than a “radio installation” and defined “radio equipment” as including portable as well as nonportable apparatus.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective
May 20, 1937, unless deferred by the Commission, see section 16 of act
May 20, 1937, set out as a note under section 351 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
47 U.S.C. § 355
Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102