46 U.S.C. § 56102 Additional Controls During War Or National Emergency

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023 Edition
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-19 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/06/2023)

(a) IN GENERAL.-During war, or a national emergency declared by Presidential proclamation, a person may not, without the approval of the Secretary of Transportation-

(1) place under foreign registry a vessel owned in whole or in part by a citizen of the United States or a corporation incorporated under the laws of the United States or of a State;

(2) sell, mortgage, lease, charter, deliver, or in any other manner transfer, or agree to sell, mortgage, lease, charter, deliver, or in any other manner transfer, to a person not a citizen of the United States-

(A) a vessel owned as described in paragraph (1), or an interest therein;

(B) a vessel documented under the laws of the United States, or an interest therein; or

(C) a facility for building or repairing vessels, or an interest therein;

(3) issue, assign, or transfer to a person not a citizen of the United States an instrument of indebtedness secured by a mortgage of a vessel to a trustee, by an assignment of an owner's interest in a vessel under construction to a trustee, or by a mortgage of a facility for building or repairing vessels to a trustee, unless the trustee or a substitute trustee is approved by the Secretary under subsection (b);

(4) enter into an agreement or understanding to construct a vessel in the United States for, or to be delivered to, a person not a citizen of the United States without expressly stipulating that construction will not begin until after the war or national emergency has ended;

(5) enter into an agreement or understanding whereby there is vested in, or for the benefit of, a person not a citizen of the United States the controlling interest in a corporation that is incorporated under the laws of the United States or a State and that owns a vessel or facility for building or repairing vessels; or

(6) cause or procure a vessel, constructed in whole or in part in the United States and never cleared for a foreign port, to depart from a port of the United States before it has been documented under the laws of the United States.

(b) TRUSTEES.-

(1) APPROVAL.-The Secretary shall approve a trustee or substitute trustee under subsection (a)(3) if and only if the trustee is a bank or trust company that-

(A) is organized as a corporation, and is doing business, under the laws of the United States or a State;

(B) is authorized under those laws to exercise corporate trust powers;

(C) is a citizen of the United States;

(D) is subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authority; and