46 U.S.C. § 31306 Declaration of Citizenship

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

(a) Except as provided by the Secretary, when an instrument transferring an interest in a vessel is presented to the Secretary for filing or recording, the transferee shall file with the instrument a declaration, in the form the Secretary may prescribe by regulation, stating information about citizenship and other information the Secretary may require to show the transaction involved does not violate section 56102 or 56103 of this title.

(b) A declaration under this section filed by a corporation must be signed by its president, secretary, treasurer, or other official authorized by the corporation to execute the declaration.

(c) Except as provided by the Secretary, an instrument transferring an interest in a vessel is not valid against any person until the declaration required by this section has been filed.

(d) A person knowingly making a false statement of a material fact in a declaration filed under this section shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

Cite as 46 U.S.C. § 31306

Source: Pub. L. 100-710, title I, §102(c), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4741; Pub. L. 101-225, title III, §303(1), Dec. 12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1923; Pub. L. 109-304, §15(27), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1704; Pub. L. 111-281, title IX, §913(a)(1), Oct. 15, 2010, 124 Stat. 3017.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 7/7/2023

<TABLE> <TR><TD colspan="2">HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Revised section</TD> <TD>Source section (U.S. Code)</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>31306</TD> <TD>46:838</TD> </TR> </TABLE>

Section 31306(a) requires that a person submitting an instrument transferring interest in a vessel to the Secretary for recording is also to file a declaration stating information about citizenship and other information to show that the transfer is not in violation of section 9 of the Shipping Act, or section 37 of that Act in a national emergency. This section makes no substantive change to law.