---
type: "LegalText"
title: "46 U.S.C. § 10908"
description: "Penalty for sending unseaworthy vessel to sea"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
chapter_number: "109"
chapter_name: "PROCEEDINGS ON UNSEAWORTHINESS"
section: "10908"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 10908"
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/s10908"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-46/usc46.xml"
source_hash: "11038f1e0085298a347026d715a930b0f23ffc51a06671d9ff0bf62e4772e431"
raw_snapshot_hash: "eb1331aa3c08ed87231a3606d86b30d1b5942cdf8542f6a3df8ac1d66e86057f"
text_hash: "288cf1c1b6b99791b2c27c9b6c1cc7222e6200ad5a8ad75159262cb657fc658e"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 46 U.S.C. § 10908 - Penalty for sending unseaworthy vessel to sea

## Text

A person that knowingly sends or attempts to send, or that is a party to sending or attempting to send, a vessel of the United States to sea, in an unseaworthy state that is likely to endanger the life of an individual, shall be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 577.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1090846:658 Section 10908 provides a penalty for a person knowingly sending or attempting to send an unseaworthy vessel to sea.