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47 USC § 353a - Operators and watches on radiotelephone equipped ships 

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t47/s353a"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "47 USC § 353a - Operators and watches on radiotelephone equipped ships"
title_number: 47
title_name: "TELECOMMUNICATIONS"
section_number: "353a"
section_name: "Operators and watches on radiotelephone equipped ships"
chapter_number: 5
chapter_name: "WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION"
subchapter_number: "III"
subchapter_name: "SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "Radio Equipment and Radio Operators On Board Ship"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2025-08-11"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 354, as added Aug. 13, 1954, ch. 729, § 2(b), 68 Stat. 706; amended Pub. L. 89–121, § 5, Aug. 13, 1965, 79 Stat. 514.)"
---

# § 353a. Operators and watches on radiotelephone equipped ships

**(a)** Each cargo ship which in accordance with this part is equipped with a radiotelephone station shall, for safety purposes, carry at least one operator who may be the master, an officer, or a member of the crew.

**(b)** Each cargo ship of the United States which in accordance with this part is equipped with a radiotelephone station shall, while being navigated in the open sea outside of a harbor or port, maintain continuous watch whenever the station is not being used for authorized traffic.

---

**Source Credit**: (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 354, as added Aug. 13, 1954, ch. 729, § 2(b), 68 Stat. 706; amended Pub. L. 89–121, § 5, Aug. 13, 1965, 79 Stat. 514.)

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1965— substituted “radiotelephone station” for “radiotelephone installation” in two places, and “one operator who may be the master, an officer, or a member of the crew” for “one qualified operator who may be a member of the crew holding only a certificate for radio telephony”, inserted “in the open sea” before “outside of a harbor”, and required a continuous watch whenever the station is not being used for authorized traffic.