46 USC § 10321 - General penalty

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s10321"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 10321 - General penalty"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "10321"
section_name: "General penalty"
chapter_number: 103
chapter_name: "FOREIGN AND INTERCOASTAL VOYAGES"
part_number: "G"
part_name: "Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-03-26"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 569; Pub. L. 103–206, title IV, § 412, Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2437.)"
---


# § 10321. General penalty

**(a)** A person violating any provision of this chapter or a regulation prescribed under this chapter is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not more than $5,000.

**(b)** The vessel is liable in rem for any penalty assessed under this section.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 569; Pub. L. 103–206, title IV, § 412, Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2437.)

| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| --- | --- |
| 10321 | 46:56746:56846:57146:66146:665 |

Section 10321 makes a vessel on which a seaman is carried to sea in violation of this chapter or regulation prescribed under this chapter liable in rem to the United States Government for a civil penalty of $200 for each seaman carried in violation.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1993— amended heading and text of section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The owner, charterer, managing operator, agent, or master of a vessel on which a seaman is carried in violation of this chapter or a regulation prescribed under this chapter is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of $200 for each seaman carried in violation. The vessel also is liable in rem for the penalty.”