Collapse to view only § 1605. Navy and Coast Guard vessels of special construction or purpose
- § 1601. Definitions
- § 1602. International Regulations
- § 1603. Vessels subject to International Regulations
- § 1604. Vessels not subject to International Regulations
- § 1605. Navy and Coast Guard vessels of special construction or purpose
- § 1606. Special rules for ships of war, vessels proceeding under convoy, and fishing vessels engaged in fishing as a fleet
- § 1607. Implementation by rules and regulations; authority to promulgate
- § 1608. Civil penalties
The President is authorized to proclaim the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the “International Regulations”). The effective date of the International Regulations for the United States shall be specified in the proclamation and shall be the date as near as possible to, but no earlier than, the date on which the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the “Convention”), signed at London, England, under date of October 20, 1972, enters into force for the United States. The International Regulations proclaimed shall consist of the rules and other annexes attached to the Convention.
The proclamation shall include the International Regulations and shall be published in the Federal Register. On the date specified in the proclamation, the International Regulations shall enter into force for the United States and shall have effect as if enacted by statute.
Subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, the President is also authorized to proclaim any amendment to the International Regulations hereafter adopted in accordance with the provisions of article VI of the Convention, and to which the United States does not object. The effective date of the amendment shall be specified in the proclamation and shall be in accordance with the provisions of the said article VI. The proclamation shall include the adopted amendment and shall be published in the Federal Register. On the date specified in the proclamation, the amendment shall enter into force for the United States as a constituent part of the International Regulations, as amended, and shall have effect as if enacted by statute.
Any requirement of the International Regulations with respect to the number, position, range, or arc of visibility of lights, with respect to shapes, or with respect to the disposition and characteristics of sound-signaling appliances, shall not be applicable to a vessel of special construction or purpose, whenever the Secretary of the Navy, for any vessel of the Navy, or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, for any other vessel of the United States, shall certify that the vessel cannot comply fully with that requirement without interfering with the special function of the vessel.
Whenever a certification is issued under the authority of subsection (a) of this section, the vessel involved shall comply with the requirement as to which the certification is made to the extent that the Secretary issuing the certification shall certify as the closest possible compliance by that vessel.
Notice of the certifications issued pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be published in the Federal Register.
A certification authorized by this section may be issued for a class of vessels.
The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating is authorized to promulgate such reasonable rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter and the International Regulations proclaimed hereunder.
Whoever operates a vessel, subject to the provisions of this chapter, in violation of this chapter or of any regulation promulgated pursuant to section 1607 of this title, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each such violation.
Every vessel subject to the provisions of this chapter, other than a public vessel being used for noncommercial purposes, which is operated in violation of this chapter or of any regulation promulgated pursuant to section 1607 of this title, shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each such violation, for which penalty the vessel may be seized and proceeded against in the district court of the United States of any district within which such vessel may be found.
The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may assess any civil penalty authorized by this section. No such penalty may be assessed until the person charged, or the owner of the vessel charged, as appropriate, shall have been given notice of the violation involved and an opportunity for a hearing. For good cause shown, the Secretary may remit, mitigate, or compromise any penalty assessed. Upon the failure of the person charged, or the owner of the vessel charged, to pay an assessed penalty, as it may have been mitigated or compromised, the Secretary may request the Attorney General to commence an action in the appropriate district court of the United States for collection of the penalty as assessed, without regard to the amount involved, together with such other relief as may be appropriate.