---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 57520"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "57520"
heading: "Vessel maintenance"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/57520"
units:
  - "Subtitle V — Merchant Marine"
  - "Part F — Government-Owned Merchant Vessels"
  - "Chapter 575 — Construction, Charter, and Sale of Vessels"
  - "Subchapter II — Charters"
---

# §57520. Vessel maintenance

- (a) **In General.—** A charter under this chapter shall require the charterer, at the charterer’s expense, to—
  - (1) keep the chartered [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) in good repair and efficient operating condition; and
  - (2) make any repairs required by the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) of Transportation.
- (b) **Inspection.—** The charter shall provide that the [Secretary](/usc/46/53101.md?p=8) has the right to inspect the [vessel](/usc/46/53501.md?p=9) at any time to ascertain its condition.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1668.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 57520 | 46 App.:1202(b), (c). | June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title VII, § 712(b), (c), 49 Stat. 2010; Aug. 7, 1939, ch. 555, § 1, 53 Stat. 1254; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(114), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 163. |