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46 USC § 11103 - Slop chests 

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s11103"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 11103 - Slop chests"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "11103"
section_name: "Slop chests"
chapter_number: 111
chapter_name: "PROTECTION AND RELIEF"
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. 578.)"
---

# § 11103. Slop chests

**(a)** A vessel to which section 11102 of this title applies shall be provided with a slop chest containing sufficient clothing for the intended voyage for each seaman, including—

**(1)** boots or shoes;

**(2)** hats or caps;

**(3)** underclothing;

**(4)** outer clothing;

**(5)** foul weather clothing;

**(6)** everything necessary for the wear of a seaman; and

**(7)** a complete supply of tobacco and blankets.

**(b)** Merchandise in the slop chest shall be sold to a seaman desiring it, for the use of the seaman, at a profit of not more than 10 percent of the reasonable wholesale value of the merchandise at the port at which the voyage began.

**(c)** This section does not apply to a vessel on a voyage to Canada, Bermuda, the West Indies, Mexico, or Central America, or a fishing or whaling vessel.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 578.)

| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| --- | --- |
| 11103 | 46:67046:671 |

Section 11103 requires that a United States vessel on a foreign or intercoastal domestic voyage be equipped with a slop chest and lists the items the slop chest must contain.