---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 11102"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "11102"
heading: "Medicine chests"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/11102"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part G — Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief"
  - "Chapter 111 — Protection and Relief"
---

# §11102. Medicine chests

- (a) A vessel of the United States on a voyage from a port in the United States to a foreign port (except to a Canadian port), and a vessel of the United States of at least 75 gross tons as measured under [section 14502 of this title](/usc/46/14502.md), or an alternate tonnage measured under [section 14302 of this title](/usc/46/14302.md) as prescribed by the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) under [section 14104 of this title](/usc/46/14104.md) on a voyage between a port of the United States on the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, shall be provided with a medicine chest.
- (b) The [owner](/usc/46/10101.md?p=2) and [master](/usc/46/10101.md?p=1) of a vessel not equipped as required by [subsection (a)](#a) of this section or a regulation prescribed under [subsection (a)](#a) are liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of $500. If the offense was due to the fault of the [owner](/usc/46/10101.md?p=2), a [master](/usc/46/10101.md?p=1) penalized under this section has the right to recover the penalty and costs from the [owner](/usc/46/10101.md?p=2).

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 578; Pub. L. 104–324, title VII, § 741, Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3942.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |
| --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| 11102(a) | 46:666 |
| 11102(b) | 46:667 |

Section 11102 requires that a United States vessel on a foreign or intercoastal domestic voyage be equipped with a medicine chest, and provides a penalty for noncompliance. The Committee intends that regulation will provide for a well stocked medicine chest adequate for the crew of a vessel.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–324 inserted “as measured under section 14502 of this title, or an alternate tonnage measured under section 14302 of this title as prescribed by the Secretary under section 14104 of this title” after “75 gross tons”.