---
type: "LegalText"
title: "46 U.S.C. § 70033"
description: "Limitation on application to foreign vessels"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
chapter_number: "700"
chapter_name: "PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY"
section: "70033"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 70033"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc46@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s70033"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-46/usc46.xml"
source_hash: "7be8b88d1a962e007509e471bdbbcfd7e57509d504adf2e24d53e708cbd9f313"
raw_snapshot_hash: "eb1331aa3c08ed87231a3606d86b30d1b5942cdf8542f6a3df8ac1d66e86057f"
text_hash: "0b070b7591ae459929a1d538cd306b7526a8d83b1a54a7a26392f15f09acaecb"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 46 U.S.C. § 70033 - Limitation on application to foreign vessels

## Text

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.

(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.)

## Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “I through III” for “A through C” in introductory provisions.