---
type: "LegalText"
title: "46 U.S.C. § 53509"
description: "Qualified withdrawals"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 46
title_name: "SHIPPING"
chapter_number: "535"
chapter_name: "CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION FUNDS"
section: "53509"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 53509"
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/s53509"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-46/usc46.xml"
source_hash: "79d3876e7594b1e3faccc478b2bdbe48a57c793fb10f029cf502dd77f9b08214"
raw_snapshot_hash: "eb1331aa3c08ed87231a3606d86b30d1b5942cdf8542f6a3df8ac1d66e86057f"
text_hash: "5679c696fbcf69f7aea0dd7855ed8fa53cba0af968fd0ac82231835c1f08e786"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 46 U.S.C. § 53509 - Qualified withdrawals

## Text

(a) In General.— Subject to subsection (b), a withdrawal from a capital construction fund is a qualified withdrawal if it is made under the terms of the agreement and is for—

(1) the acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of a qualified vessel or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a qualified vessel; or

(2) the payment of the principal on indebtedness incurred in the acquisition, construction, or reconstruction of a qualified vessel or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a qualified vessel.

(b) Barges and Containers.— Except as provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, subsection (a) applies to a barge or container only if it is constructed in the United States.

(c) Treatment as Nonqualified Withdrawal.— Under joint regulations, if the Secretary determines that a substantial obligation under an agreement is not being fulfilled, the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for a hearing to the person maintaining the fund, may treat any amount in the fund as an amount withdrawn from the fund in a nonqualified withdrawal.

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1596.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 5350946 App.:1177(f).June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VI, § 607(f), 49 Stat. 2005; June 23, 1938, ch. 600, §§ 23–28, 52 Stat. 960; Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, § 10, 53 Stat. 1185; July 17, 1952, ch. 939, §§ 17–19, 66 Stat. 764; Pub. L. 85–637, Aug. 14, 1958, 72 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 86–518, § 1, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 87–45, § 6, May 27, 1961, 75 Stat. 91; Pub. L. 87–271, Sept. 21, 1961, 75 Stat. 570; restated Pub. L. 91–469, § 21(a), Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1029; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(97)(A), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 162. In subsection (c), the words “any amount in the fund” are substituted for “the entire fund or any portion thereof” to eliminate unnecessary words.