46 USC § 12107 - Wrecked vessels

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s12107"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 12107 - Wrecked vessels"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "12107"
section_name: "Wrecked vessels"
chapter_number: 121
chapter_name: "DOCUMENTATION OF VESSELS"
subchapter_number: "I"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL"
part_number: "H"
part_name: "Identification of Vessels"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-03-26"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 109–304, § 5, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1494.)"
---


# § 12107. Wrecked vessels

**(a)** **Requirements.—** A vessel is a wrecked vessel under this chapter if it—

**(1)** was wrecked on a coast of the United States or adjacent waters; and

**(2)** has undergone repairs in a shipyard in the United States equal to at least 3 times the appraised salvage value of the vessel.

**(b)** **Appraisals.—** The Secretary may appoint a board of three appraisers to determine whether a vessel satisfies subsection (a)(2). The costs of the appraisal shall be paid by the owner of the vessel.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 5, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1494.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 12107 | 46 App.:14 (words before last proviso). | R.S. § 4136 (words before last proviso); Feb. 24, 1915, ch. 57, 38 Stat. 812; Pub. L. 103–182, title VI, § 686(a)(4), Dec. 8, 1993, 107 Stat. 2220. |

The words “The Secretary of Transportation may issue a certificate of documentation with a coastwise endorsement” and “when purchased by a citizen or citizens of the United States” are omitted as unnecessary because section 12112, as revised by the bill, provides the requirements for a wrecked vessel to obtain a coastwise endorsement.

In subsection (c)(1), the words “or her possessions” are omitted as unnecessary because of the definition of “United States” in chapter 1 of the revised title.

## Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 12107, , , ; , (5), , ; , , , originally derived from section 65j of former Title 46, Shipping, related to Great Lakes endorsements, prior to being repealed by , , .

A prior section 12108, , , ; , , ; , §§ 3(4), (5), 6(a)(6), , , 1782; , , ; , , , 3009–41; , title VII, § 744, , , 3942; , , , originally derived from section 65k of former Title 46, Shipping, related to fishery endorsements, prior to being omitted in the general amendment of this chapter by . See sections 12102, 12113, and 12116 of this title.

A prior section 12109, , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , , originally derived from section 65 of former Title 46, Shipping, related to recreational endorsements, prior to being omitted in the general amendment of this chapter by . See .

A prior section 12110, , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , (d)(1), , ; , , , originally derived from section 65m of former Title 46, Shipping, related to limitations on operations authorized by certificates, prior to being omitted in the general amendment of this chapter by . See sections 12102, 12114, and 12131 of this title.