46 USC § 57109 - Operation of vessels purchased, chartered, or leased from Secretary of Transportation

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s57109"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 57109 - Operation of vessels purchased, chartered, or leased from Secretary of Transportation"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "57109"
section_name: "Operation of vessels purchased, chartered, or leased from Secretary of Transportation"
chapter_number: 571
chapter_name: "GENERAL AUTHORITY"
part_number: "F"
part_name: "Government-Owned Merchant 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, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1661.)"
---


# § 57109. Operation of vessels purchased, chartered, or leased from Secretary of Transportation

Unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary of Transportation, a vessel purchased, chartered, or leased from the Secretary may be operated only under a certificate of documentation with a registry or coastwise endorsement. Such a vessel, while employed solely as a merchant vessel, is subject to the laws, regulations, and liabilities governing merchant vessels, whether the United States Government has an interest in the vessel as an owner or holds a mortgage, lien, or other interest.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1661.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 57109 | 46 App.:808(b). | Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 451, § 9(b), 39 Stat. 730; July 15, 1918, ch. 152, § 3, 40 Stat. 900; restated June 5, 1920, ch. 250, § 18, 41 Stat. 994; Ex. Ord. No. 6166, § 12, eff. June 10, 1933; June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title II, § 204, title IX, § 904, 49 Stat. 1987, 2016; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(26), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 155; Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 104(b)(2), Nov. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 4750. |

The words “only under a certificate of documentation with a registry or coastwise endorsement” are substituted for “only under such registry or enrollment and license” for clarity and to use the appropriate current language.