46 USC § 10906 - Discharge of crew for unsuitability

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s10906"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 10906 - Discharge of crew for unsuitability"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "10906"
section_name: "Discharge of crew for unsuitability"
chapter_number: 109
chapter_name: "PROCEEDINGS ON UNSEAWORTHINESS"
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. 576.)"
---


# § 10906. Discharge of crew for unsuitability

When a survey is made at a foreign port, the surveyors shall state in the report whether, in their opinion, the vessel had been sent to sea unsuitably provided in any important particular, by neglect or design or through mistake or accident. If by neglect or design, and the consular officer approves the finding, the officer shall discharge a seaman requesting discharge and shall require the master to pay one month’s wages to that seaman in addition to wages then due, or sufficient money for the return of the seaman to the nearest and most convenient port of the United States, whichever is the greater amount.

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**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 576.)

| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| --- | --- |
| 10906 | 46:658 |

Section 10906 provides that if a consular officer finds that a vessel has been sent to sea in an unsuitable state, a crew member requesting discharge must be paid one month’s additional wages and passage to the United States.