---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 10310"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "10310"
heading: "Discharge"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/10310"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part G — Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief"
  - "Chapter 103 — Foreign and Intercoastal Voyages"
---

# §10310. Discharge


A [master](/usc/46/10101.md?p=1) shall deliver to a [seaman](/usc/46/10101.md?p=3) a full and true account of the [seaman](/usc/46/10101.md?p=3)’s wages and all deductions at least 48 hours before paying off or discharging the [seaman](/usc/46/10101.md?p=3).


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 564; Pub. L. 103–206, title IV, § 408, Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2436.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |
| --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| 10310 | 46:641<br>46:642 |

Section 10310 requires the master of a vessel to give each seaman a full account of the seaman’s wages 48 hours before discharge. The penalty for violation is $50.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1993—Pub. L. 103–206 struck out “or a shipping commissioner” after “to a seaman” and struck out at end “A master failing to deliver the account is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of $50.”