---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 60305"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "60305"
heading: "Vessels in distress"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/60305"
units:
  - "Subtitle VI — Clearance, Tonnage Taxes, and Duties"
  - "Chapter 603 — Tonnage Taxes and Light Money"
---

# §60305. Vessels in distress


A vessel is exempt from tonnage taxes and light money when it enters because it is in distress.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 9(b), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1678.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 60305 | 46 App.:121 (3d sentence related to distress). | Aug. 5, 1909, ch. 6, § 36 (2d sentence related to distress), 36 Stat. 111; Pub. L. 101–508, title X, § 10402(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–398; Pub. L. 103–66, title IX, § 9001(a)(3), (c)(1), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 402. |

The words “and light money” are added for clarity and consistency. See 19 C.F.R. § 4.21 (2003).