46 USC § 70033 - Limitation on application to foreign vessels

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s70033"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 70033 - Limitation on application to foreign vessels"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "70033"
section_name: "Limitation on application to foreign vessels"
chapter_number: 700
chapter_name: "PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY"
subchapter_number: "IV"
subchapter_name: "DEFINITIONS, REGULATIONS, ENFORCEMENT, INVESTIGATORY POWERS, APPLICABILITY"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-03-26"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Added Pub. L. 115–282, title IV, § 401(a), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4261; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXV [LXXXV], § 8507(a)(6), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4753.)"
---


# § 70033. Limitation on application to foreign vessels

Except pursuant to international treaty, convention, or agreement, to which the United States is a party, subchapters I through III and this subchapter shall not apply to any foreign vessel that is not destined for, or departing from, a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and that is in—

**(1)** innocent passage through the territorial sea of the United States; or

**(2)** transit through the navigable waters of the United States that form a part of an international strait.

---

**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 115–282, title IV, § 401(a), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4261; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXV [LXXXV], § 8507(a)(6), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4753.)

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2021— substituted “I through III” for “A through C” in introductory provisions.