46 USC § 7103 - Licenses for radio officers

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s7103"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "46 USC § 7103 - Licenses for radio officers"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
section_number: "7103"
section_name: "Licenses for radio officers"
chapter_number: 71
chapter_name: "LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRY"
part_number: "E"
part_name: "Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-03-26"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 540.)"
---


# § 7103. Licenses for radio officers

**(a)** A license as radio officer may be issued only to an applicant who has a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission.

**(b)** Except as provided in section 7318 of this title, this part does not affect the status of radiotelegraph operators serving on board vessels operating only on the Great Lakes.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 540.)

| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| --- | --- |
| 7103 | 46:229a46:229b46:229g |

Section 7103 requires an applicant for a license as a radio officer to have, as a prerequisite, a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It also excepts radiotelegraph operators that are engaged on Great Lakes vessels from the requirement of having to obtain a radio officer’s license.