---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 57504"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "57504"
heading: "Charter or sale of vessels acquired by Department of Transportation"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/57504"
units:
  - "Subtitle V — Merchant Marine"
  - "Part F — Government-Owned Merchant Vessels"
  - "Chapter 575 — Construction, Charter, and Sale of Vessels"
  - "Subchapter I — General"
---

# §57504. Charter or sale of vessels acquired by Department of Transportation


[Vessels](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) transferred to or otherwise acquired by the Department of Transportation in any manner may be chartered or sold by the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) of Transportation as provided in this chapter.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1665.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 57504 | 46 App.:1194. | June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VII, § 704, 49 Stat. 2008; Apr. 1, 1937, ch. 64, 50 Stat. 57; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(106), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 163. |