---
type: "LegalText"
title: "46 U.S.C. § 11103"
description: "Slop chests"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
chapter_number: "111"
chapter_name: "PROTECTION AND RELIEF"
section: "11103"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 11103"
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/s11103"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-46/usc46.xml"
source_hash: "d3e3f67329fd417f1c025beb482d6d917025c22009bbd874090f9302275c3790"
raw_snapshot_hash: "eb1331aa3c08ed87231a3606d86b30d1b5942cdf8542f6a3df8ac1d66e86057f"
text_hash: "42e7ecc7efb3186f8c69d77c57f6d35d20f68282eff6f93d0efe84ba5fc0452e"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 46 U.S.C. § 11103 - Slop chests

## Text

(a) A vessel to which section 11102 of this title applies shall be provided with a slop chest containing sufficient clothing for the intended voyage for each seaman, including—

(1) boots or shoes;

(2) hats or caps;

(3) underclothing;

(4) outer clothing;

(5) foul weather clothing;

(6) everything necessary for the wear of a seaman; and

(7) a complete supply of tobacco and blankets.

(b) Merchandise in the slop chest shall be sold to a seaman desiring it, for the use of the seaman, at a profit of not more than 10 percent of the reasonable wholesale value of the merchandise at the port at which the voyage began.

(c) This section does not apply to a vessel on a voyage to Canada, Bermuda, the West Indies, Mexico, or Central America, or a fishing or whaling vessel.

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 578.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 1110346:67046:671 Section 11103 requires that a United States vessel on a foreign or intercoastal domestic voyage be equipped with a slop chest and lists the items the slop chest must contain.