---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 53509"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "53509"
heading: "Qualified withdrawals"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/53509"
units:
  - "Subtitle V — Merchant Marine"
  - "Part C — Financial Assistance Programs"
  - "Chapter 535 — Capital Construction Funds"
---

# §53509. Qualified withdrawals

- (a) **In General.—** Subject to [subsection (b)](#b), a withdrawal from a capital [construction](/usc/46/53701.md?p=3) fund is a qualified withdrawal if it is made under the terms of the [agreement](/usc/46/53201.md?p=8) and is for—
  - (1) the acquisition, [construction](/usc/46/53701.md?p=3), or [reconstruction](/usc/46/53701.md?p=3) of a [qualified vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=5) or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a [qualified vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=5); or
  - (2) the payment of the principal on indebtedness incurred in the acquisition, [construction](/usc/46/53701.md?p=3), or [reconstruction](/usc/46/53701.md?p=3) of a [qualified vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=5) or a barge or container that is part of the complement of a [qualified vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=5).
- (b) **Barges and Containers.—** Except as provided in regulations prescribed by the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8), [subsection (a)](#a) applies to a barge or container only if it is constructed in the [United States](/usc/46/53101.md?p=10).
- (c) **Treatment as Nonqualified Withdrawal.—** Under [joint regulations](/usc/46/53501.md?p=3), if the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) determines that a substantial [obligation](/usc/46/53701.md?p=9) under an [agreement](/usc/46/53201.md?p=8) is not being fulfilled, the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8), after notice and opportunity for a hearing to the [person](/usc/46/53101.md?p=6) maintaining the fund, may treat any amount in the fund as an amount withdrawn from the fund in a nonqualified withdrawal.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1596.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 53509 | 46 App.:1177(f). | June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VI, § 607(f), 49 Stat. 2005; June 23, 1938, ch. 600, §§ 23–28, 52 Stat. 960; Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, § 10, 53 Stat. 1185; July 17, 1952, ch. 939, §§ 17–19, 66 Stat. 764; Pub. L. 85–637, Aug. 14, 1958, 72 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 86–518, § 1, June 12, 1960, 74 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 87–45, § 6, May 27, 1961, 75 Stat. 91; Pub. L. 87–271, Sept. 21, 1961, 75 Stat. 570; restated Pub. L. 91–469, § 21(a), Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1029; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(97)(A), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 162. |

In subsection (c), the words “any amount in the fund” are substituted for “the entire fund or any portion thereof” to eliminate unnecessary words.