46 USC § 56501 - Definition

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s56501"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 56501 - Definition"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "56501"
section_name: "Definition"
chapter_number: 565
chapter_name: "ESSENTIAL VESSELS AFFECTED BY NEUTRALITY ACT"
part_number: "E"
part_name: "Control of Merchant Marine Capabilities"
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. 1656.)"
---


# § 56501. Definition

In this chapter, the term “essential vessel” means a vessel that is—

**(1)**

**(A)** security for a mortgage indebtedness to the United States Government; or

**(B)** constructed under this subtitle or required by a contract under this subtitle to be operated on a certain essential foreign trade route; and

**(2)** necessary in the interests of commerce and national defense to be maintained in condition for prompt use.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1656.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 56501 | 46 App.:1242a(a). | June 29, 1940, ch. 442, subdiv. (a), 54 Stat. 684. |