46 CFR § 4.40-5 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t46/s4.40-5"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "46 CFR § 4.40-5 - Definitions."
title_number: 46
title_name: "Shipping"
section_number: "4.40-5"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO THE PUBLIC"
part_number: "4"
part_name: "MARINE CASUALTIES AND INVESTIGATIONS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "14 U.S.C. 102; 43 U.S.C. 1333; 46 U.S.C. 2103, 2303A, 2306, 6101, 6301, 6305, 70034; 50 U.S.C. 198; DHS Delegation 00170.1, Revision No. 01.4. Subpart 4.40 issued under 49 U.S.C. 1131(a)(1)(E)."
regulatory_source: "CGD 74-119, 39 FR 33317, Sept. 17, 1974, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "4"
---


# 4.40-5 Definitions.

As used in this subpart:

(a) *Act* means title III of Public Law 93-633, the Independent Safety Board Act of 1974, (49 U.S.C. 1131).

(b) *Board* means the National Transportation Safety Board.

(c) *Chairman* means the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

(d) *Major marine casualty* means a casualty involving a vessel, other than a public vessel, that results in:

(1) The loss of six or more lives:

(2) The loss of a mechanically propelled vessel of 100 or more gross tons;

(3) Property damage initially estimated at $500,000 or more; or

(4) Serious threat, as determined by the Commandant and concurred in by the Chairman, to life, property, or the environment by hazardous materials.

(e) *Public vessel* means a vessel owned by the United States, except a vessel to which the Act of October 25, 1919, c.82, (41 Stat. 305, 46 U.S.C. 363) applies.

(f) *Vessel of the United States* means a vessel:

(1) Documented or required to be documented under the laws of the United States;

(2) Owned in the United States; or

(3) Owned by a citizen or resident of the United States and not registered under a foreign flag.

[CGD 76-149, 42 FR 61200, Dec. 1, 1977, as amended by CGD 95-028, 62 FR 51195, Sept. 30, 1997; USCG-2021-0348, 87 FR 3223, Jan. 21, 2022; 87 FR 35901, June 14, 2022]