---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 7303"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "7303"
heading: "Possession and description of merchant mariners’ documents"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/7303"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part E — Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents"
  - "Chapter 73 — Merchant Mariners’ Documents"
---

# §7303. Possession and description of merchant mariners’ documents


A merchant mariner’s document shall be retained by the individual to whom issued. The document shall contain the signature, notations of nationality, age, and physical description, the photograph, and the home address of the individual. In addition, the document shall specify the rate or ratings in which the individual is qualified to serve.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 542; Pub. L. 107–295, title IV, § 421, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2125; Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXV [LXXXV], § 8505(b)(3), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4751.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |
| --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| 7303 | 46:643(a) |

Section 7303 requires seamen to retain their merchant mariner’s documents. It also specifies the information that is to be contained in the document.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “individual” for “seaman” wherever appearing.

2002—Pub. L. 107–295 struck out “the thumbprint,” after “photograph,”.