46 USC § 53509 - Qualified withdrawals

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s53509"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 53509 - Qualified withdrawals"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "53509"
section_name: "Qualified withdrawals"
chapter_number: 535
chapter_name: "CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION FUNDS"
part_number: "C"
part_name: "Financial Assistance Programs"
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, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1596.)"
---


# § 53509. Qualified withdrawals

**(a)** **In General.—** Subject to subsection (b), a withdrawal from a capital construction fund is a qualified withdrawal if it is made under the terms of the agreement and is for—

**(1)** the acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of a qualified vessel or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a qualified vessel; or

**(2)** the payment of the principal on indebtedness incurred in the acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of a qualified vessel or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a qualified vessel.

**(b)** **Barges and Containers.—** Except as provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, subsection (a) applies to a barge or container only if it is constructed in the United States.

**(c)** **Treatment as Nonqualified Withdrawal.—** Under joint regulations, if the Secretary determines that a substantial obligation under an agreement is not being fulfilled, the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for a hearing to the person maintaining the fund, may treat any amount in the fund as an amount withdrawn from the fund in a nonqualified withdrawal.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1596.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 53509 | 46 App.:1177(f). | June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VI, § 607(f), 49 Stat. 2005; June 23, 1938, ch. 600, §§ 23–28, 52 Stat. 960; Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, § 10, 53 Stat. 1185; July 17, 1952, ch. 939, §§ 17–19, 66 Stat. 764; Pub. L. 85–637, Aug. 14, 1958, 72 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 86–518, § 1, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 87–45, § 6, May 27, 1961, 75 Stat. 91; Pub. L. 87–271, Sept. 21, 1961, 75 Stat. 570; restated Pub. L. 91–469, § 21(a), Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1029; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(97)(A), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 162. |

In subsection (c), the words “any amount in the fund” are substituted for “the entire fund or any portion thereof” to eliminate unnecessary words.