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46 USC § 57506 - Minimum selling price of vessels 

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s57506"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 57506 - Minimum selling price of vessels"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "57506"
section_name: "Minimum selling price of vessels"
chapter_number: 575
chapter_name: "CONSTRUCTION, CHARTER, AND SALE OF VESSELS"
subchapter_number: "I"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL"
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. 1665.)"
---

# § 57506. Minimum selling price of vessels

**(a)** **In General.—** A vessel constructed under this subtitle or the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, may not be sold by the Secretary of Transportation for less than the price specified in this section.

**(b)** **Operation in Foreign Trade.—** If the vessel is to be operated in foreign trade, the minimum price is the estimated foreign construction cost (exclusive of national defense features) determined as of the date the construction contract is executed, less depreciation under subsection (d).

**(c)** **Operation in Domestic Trade.—** If the vessel is to be operated in domestic trade, the minimum price is the cost of construction in the United States (exclusive of national defense features), less depreciation under subsection (d).

**(d)** **Depreciation.—** Depreciation under subsections (b) and (c) shall be based on—

**(1)** a 25-year life for dry-cargo and passenger vessels; and

**(2)** a 20-year life for tankers and other bulk liquid carrier vessels.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1665.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 57506 | 46 App.:1195 (last sentence). | June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VII, § 705 (last sentence), as added Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, § 11(a), 53 Stat. 1185; Pub. L. 86–518, § 1, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(107), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 163. |
|  | 46 App.:1125 note. | Pub. L. 86–518, § 9, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 217. |

Subsection (d) is substituted for “less depreciation based on a twenty-five year life” because of  (, ), which provided that “Nothing in any amendment made by this Act [including section 1 substituting ‘twenty-five’ for ‘twenty’ in 46 App. U.S.C. 1195] shall operate or be interpreted to change from twenty to twenty-five years the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, relating to the commercial expectancy or period of depreciation of any tanker or other liquid bulk carrier.”

## Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The Merchant Marine Act, 1936, referred to in subsec. (a), is , , which was classified principally to chapter 27 (§ 1101 et seq.) of the former Appendix to this title. The Act, with the exception of title V, most of title VI, and sections 301, 801, 802, 809(a), and 909 thereof, was repealed and restated, mainly in this subtitle, by , §§ 8, 19, , , 1710. Title V and sections 301 and 909 of the Act are set out as notes under . Those portions of title VI not repealed by  and sections 802 and 809(a) of the Act were repealed by , , . Section 801 of the Act was transferred to  by , , . For complete classification of the Act to the Code, see Tables. For disposition of sections of the former Appendix to Title 46, see Disposition Table preceding .