---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 12134"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "12134"
heading: "Evidentiary uses of documentation"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/12134"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part H — Identification of Vessels"
  - "Chapter 121 — Documentation of Vessels"
  - "Subchapter III — Miscellaneous"
---

# §12134. Evidentiary uses of documentation


A certificate of documentation is—

- (1) conclusive evidence of nationality for international purposes, but not in a proceeding conducted under the laws of the United States;
- (2) conclusive evidence of qualification to engage in a specified trade; and
- (3) not conclusive evidence of ownership in a proceeding in which ownership is in issue.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 5, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1506.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 12134 | 46:12104. |  |