---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 3205"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "3205"
heading: "Certification"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/3205"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part B — Inspection and Regulation of Vessels"
  - "Chapter 32 — Management of Vessels"
---

# §3205. Certification

- (a) **Issuance of Certificate and Document.—** After verifying that the [responsible person](/usc/46/3201.md?p=2) for a vessel to which this chapter applies and the vessel comply with the applicable requirements under this chapter, the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) shall issue for the vessel, on request of the [responsible person](/usc/46/3201.md?p=2), a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of Compliance.
- (b) **Maintenance of Certificate and Document.—** A Safety Management Certificate and a Document of Compliance issued for a vessel under this section shall be maintained by the [responsible person](/usc/46/3201.md?p=2) for the vessel as required by the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46).
- (c) **Verification of Compliance.—** The [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) shall—
  - (1) periodically, or upon discovery from other sources of information acquired by the [Coast Guard](/usc/46/2101.md?p=2), including a discovery made during an audit or systematic review conducted under [section 10104(e)](/usc/46/10104.md?p=e) of a failure of a [responsible person](/usc/46/3201.md?p=2) or vessel to comply with a requirement of a safety management system for which a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of compliance[^1] has been issued under this section, including a failure to comply with regulations prescribed under [section 3203(a)(7)](/usc/46/3203.md?p=a-7) and (8), review whether a [responsible person](/usc/46/3201.md?p=2) having a safety management plan approved under [section 3204(b)](/usc/46/3204.md?p=b) and each vessel to which the plan applies is complying with the plan; and
  - (2) revoke the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46)’s approval of the plan and each Safety Management Certificate and Document of Compliance issued to the [person](/usc/46/3701.md?p=3) for a vessel to which the plan applies, if the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) determines that the [person](/usc/46/3701.md?p=3) or a vessel to which the plan applies has not complied with the plan.
- (d) **Enforcement.—** At the request of the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46), the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) of Homeland Security shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by [section 60105 of this title](/usc/46/60105.md) of a vessel that is subject to this chapter under [section 3202(a) of this title](/usc/46/3202.md?p=a) or to the International Safety Management Code, if the vessel does not have on board a Safety Management Certificate and a copy of a Document of Compliance for the vessel. Clearance may be granted on filing a bond or other surety satisfactory to the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46).

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be “Compliance”.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 104–324, title VI, § 602(a), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3929; amended Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(10), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1703; Pub. L. 110–181, div. C, title XXXV, § 3529(b)(1)(A), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 603; Pub. L. 117–263, div. K, title CXVI, § 11610(b), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 4155.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2022—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 117–263 inserted “, or upon discovery from other sources of information acquired by the Coast Guard, including a discovery made during an audit or systematic review conducted under section 10104(e) of a failure of a responsible person or vessel to comply with a requirement of a safety management system for which a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of compliance has been issued under this section, including a failure to comply with regulations prescribed under section 3203(a)(7) and (8),” after “periodically”.

2008—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–181 amended Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(10). See 2006 Amendment note below.

2006—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(10), as amended by Pub. L. 110–181, substituted “Secretary of Homeland Security shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 60105 of this title” for “Secretary of the Treasury shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes (46 U.S.C. App. 91)”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Pub. L. 110–181, div. C, title XXXV, § 3529(b)(2), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 603, provided that: “The amendments made by paragraph (1) [amending this section and section 31325 of this title] shall be effective as if included in the enactment of Public Law 109–304.”