46 U.S.C. § 2304

Duty to provide assistance at sea

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 46 CasesGoogle Scholar
(a)(1) A master or individual in charge of a vessel shall render assistance to any individual found at sea in danger of being lost, so far as the master or individual in charge can do so without serious danger to the master’s or individual’s vessel or individuals on board.(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a vessel of war or a vessel owned by the United States Government appropriated only to a public service.(b) A master or individual violating this section shall be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 509; Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(8), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1703.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised section

Source section (U.S. Code)

2304

46:728

Section 2304 requires a master or individual in charge of a vessel to render assistance to those in danger at sea if able to do so without seriously endangering the vessel or crew.

Editorial NotesAmendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–304 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1990–2024 · leading case: Smith v. Tidewater Inc., 918 So. 2d 1 (La. Ct. App. 2005).
Smith v. Tidewater Inc., 918 So. 2d 1 (La. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 2× “Another statutory duty on the part of the employer or master [5] of the vessel to take all reasonable measures to search for a missing seaman, and rescue him if found, is under 46 U.S.C.A. § 2304 [6] , which states in relevant part: A master or individual in charge of a vessel…”
Matheny v. Tennessee Valley Auth., 523 F. Supp. 2d 697 (M.D. Tenn. 2007). · cites it 2× “§ 2303 (a)(1) as providing the applicable standard of care for the claims arising from its alleged failure to adequately rescue the decedent, whereas the plaintiff has identified 46 U.S.C. § 2304 . The first provision, 46 U.”
Rogers v. Coastal Towing, L.L.C., 723 F. Supp. 2d 929 (E.D. La. 2010). “The focus of this policy — the marine rescuer — was statutorily affirmed by Congress in the Life Salvage Act, which imposes upon seamen an affirmative duty to render assistance to “any individual found at sea in danger of being lost” 46 U.S.C. § 2304 . To allow the Louisiana…”
Martinez Ex Rel. Est. of Dixon v. Puerto Rico Marine Mgmt., Inc., 755 F. Supp. 1001 (S.D. Ala. 1990). “46 U.S.C.A. § 2304 (a) (Supp.1989). It is clear that, based on the facts set forth above, PRMMI owed a duty to the decedents.”
In Re: Maine Mar. Museum (D. Me. 2024). · cites it 6× “Count II – Breach of Statutory Duty Count Two of MMM’s third-party complaint alleges that the master or individual in charge of Sea Ark I owed a statutory duty under 46 U.S.C. § 2304 (a) to render assistance to the Mary E passengers so far as he could do so without serious…”
Est. of Cherish Pankey v. Carnival Corp. (S.D. Fla. 2023). · cites it 2× “In Count III, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant violated 46 U.S.C. § 2304 (a)(1), which requires a “master or individual in charge of a vessel [to] render assistance to any individual found at sea in danger of being lost, so far as the master or individual in charge can do so…”
In Re: In the Matter of Ryan Denver as Owner of M/V Make it Go Away, for Exoneration From or Limitation Liab. (D. Mass. 2022). “Plaintiff claims that by leaving without providing aid, the operator of the Unidentified Vessel violated his legal duty to provide assistance at sea pursuant to 46 U.S.C. § 2304 . [Id. ¶ 20]. Plaintiff and one of the passengers who could swim tried to help the other six…”
In Re: In the Matter of Ryan Denver as Owner of M/V Make it Go Away, for Exoneration From or Limitation Liab. (D. Mass. 2024). “Plaintiff claims that by leaving without providing aid, the operator of the Unidentified Vessel violated his legal duty to provide assistance at sea pursuant to 46 U.S.C. § 2304 . [Id. ¶ 20].3 Plaintiff and one of the passengers who could swim tried to help the other six…”
Luiten v. Fairhope Yacht Club (S.D. Ala. 2019). “Plaintiffs also assert a cause of action against Defendant for failure to provide assistance at sea as required by 46 U.S.C.A. § 2304 . (Id. at p. 6). They allege that the co-chairs of Defendant’s race committee, who were anchored at the finish line aboard a 48-foot motor yacht,…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.