---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 70508"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "70508"
heading: "Operation of submersible vessel or semi-submersible vessel without nationality"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/70508"
units:
  - "Subtitle VII — Security and Drug Enforcement"
  - "Chapter 705 — Maritime Drug Law Enforcement"
---

# §70508. Operation of submersible vessel or semi-submersible vessel without nationality

- (a) **In General.—** An individual may not operate by any means or embark in any [submersible vessel](/usc/46/70502.md?p=f-2) or [semi-submersible vessel](/usc/46/70502.md?p=f-1) that is without nationality and that is navigating or has navigated into, through, or from waters beyond the outer limit of the territorial sea of a single country or a lateral limit of that country’s territorial sea with an adjacent country, with the intent to evade detection.
- (b) **Evidence of Intent To Evade Detection.—** In any civil enforcement proceeding for a violation of [subsection (a)](#a), the presence of any of the indicia described in paragraph (1)(A), (E), (F), or (G), or in paragraph [(4)](/usc/46/70507.md?p=b-4), [(5)](/usc/46/70507.md?p=b-5), or [(6)](/usc/46/70507.md?p=b-6), of section 70507(b) may be considered, in the totality of the circumstances, to be prima facie evidence of intent to evade detection.
- (c) **Defenses.—**
  - (1) **In general.—** It is a defense in any civil enforcement proceeding for a violation of [subsection (a)](#a) that the [submersible vessel](/usc/46/70502.md?p=f-2) or [semi-submersible vessel](/usc/46/70502.md?p=f-1) involved was, at the time of the violation—
    - (A) a [vessel of the United States](/usc/46/70502.md?p=b) or lawfully registered in a foreign nation as claimed by the master or individual in charge of the vessel when requested to make a claim by an officer of the United States authorized to enforce applicable provisions of United States law;
    - (B) classed by and designed in accordance with the rules of a classification society;
    - (C) lawfully operated in government-regulated or licensed activity, including commerce, research, or exploration; or
    - (D) equipped with and using an operable automatic identification system, vessel monitoring system, or long range identification and tracking system.
  - (2) **Production of documents.—** The defenses provided by this subsection are proved conclusively by the production of—
    - (A) government documents evidencing the vessel’s nationality at the time of the offense, as provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on the High Seas;
    - (B) a certificate of classification issued by the vessel’s classification society upon completion of relevant classification surveys and valid at the time of the offense; or
    - (C) government documents evidencing licensure, regulation, or registration for research or exploration.
- (d) **Civil Penalty.—** A person violating this section shall be liable to the United States for a civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 110–407, title II, § 202(a), Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4299.)