10 USC § 8168 - Consular powers: senior officer present afloat

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s8168"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 8168 - Consular powers: senior officer present afloat"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "8168"
section_name: "Consular powers: senior officer present afloat"
chapter_number: 821
chapter_name: "OFFICERS IN COMMAND"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "PERSONNEL"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5948; renumbered § 8168, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834.)"
---


# § 8168. Consular powers: senior officer present afloat

In any foreign port where there is no resident consul of the United States, or on the high seas, the senior officer present afloat has the powers of a consul in relation to mariners of the United States.

---

**Source Credit**: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 372, § 5948; renumbered § 8168, Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 807(b)(5), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834.)

| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 5948 | 34 U.S.C. 217. | R.S. 1433. |

The words “the senior officer present afloat” are substituted for the words “The commanding officer of any fleet, squadron, or vessel acting singly”. At the time of enactment of the Revised Statutes, the word “squadron” meant any number of vessels more than one. Today the concept of “senior officer present afloat” covers as nearly as possible the current equivalent of the original statute.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018— renumbered  as this section.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see , set out as a note preceding .