---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 60309"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "60309"
heading: "Passenger vessels making trips between ports of the United States and foreign ports"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/60309"
units:
  - "Subtitle VI — Clearance, Tonnage Taxes, and Duties"
  - "Chapter 603 — Tonnage Taxes and Light Money"
---

# §60309. Passenger vessels making trips between ports of the United States and foreign ports


A [passenger vessel](/usc/46/2101.md?p=33) making at least 3 trips per week between a port of the United States and a foreign port is exempt from tonnage taxes and light money.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 9(b), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1679.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 60309 | 46 App.:124. | R.S. § 2792; May 28, 1908, ch. 212, § 1, 35 Stat. 424. |

The words “at least 3 trips per week” are substituted for “triweekly or oftener” for clarity. The words “and light money” are added for clarity and consistency. See 19 C.F.R. § 4.21 (2003). The words “while such service triweekly or oftener is maintained” are omitted as unnecessary.