---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 7319"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "7319"
heading: "Records of merchant mariners’ documents"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/7319"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part E — Merchant Seamen Licenses, Certificates, and Documents"
  - "Chapter 73 — Merchant Mariners’ Documents"
---

# §7319. Records of merchant mariners’ documents


The [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) shall maintain records on each merchant mariner’s document issued, including the name and address of the individual to whom issued and the next of kin of the individual.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 545; Pub. L. 108–293, title IV, § 403, Aug. 9, 2004, 118 Stat. 1043; Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXV [LXXXV], § 8505(b)(4), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4751.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |
| --- | --- |
| Revised section | Source section (U.S. Code) |
| 7319 | 46:643(f) |

Section 7319 requires the Secretary to maintain records on each merchant mariner’s document issued and the seaman’s next of kin. However, these records are not open for general or public inspection.

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “individual” for “seaman” in two places.

2004—Pub. L. 108–293 struck out at end “The records are not open to general or public inspection.”