(a) Requirement to report incident

The master, person in charge, owner, charterer, manager, or operator of a ship involved in an incident shall report the incident in the manner prescribed by Article 8 of the Convention in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary for that purpose.

(b) Requirement to report discharge, probable discharge, or presence of oil

Terms Used In 33 USC 1906

  • Convention: means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, including Protocols I and II and Annexes I, II, V, and VI thereto, including any modification or amendments to the Convention, Protocols, or Annexes which have entered into force for the United States. See 33 USC 1901
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • navigable waters: includes the territorial sea of the United States (as defined in Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988) and the internal waters of the United States. See 33 USC 1901
  • operator: means &mdash. See 33 USC 1901
  • owner: means any person holding title to, or in the absence of title, any other indicia of ownership of, a ship or terminal, but does not include a person who, without participating in the management or operation of a ship or terminal, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in the ship or terminal. See 33 USC 1901
  • person: means an individual, firm, public or private corporation, partnership, association, State, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a State, or any interstate body. See 33 USC 1901
  • Secretary: means the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating. See 33 USC 1901
  • ship: means a vessel of any type whatsoever, including hydrofoils, air-cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft whether self-propelled or not, and fixed or floating platforms. See 33 USC 1901

The master or person in charge of—

(1) a ship of United States registry or nationality, or operated under the authority of the United States, wherever located;

(2) another ship while in the navigable waters of the United States; or

(3) a sea port or oil handling facility subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,


shall report a discharge, probable discharge, or presence of oil in the manner prescribed by Article 4 of the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation, 1990 (adopted at London, November 30, 1990), in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary for that purpose.