46 U.S.C. § 31326 — Court sales to enforce preferred mortgage liens and maritime liens and priority of claims

(a) — When a federal district court orders a vessel sold to enforce a preferred mortgage lien or a maritime lien, every claim against the vessel that existed on the sale date ends, including a common-law possessory lien lost under section 31325(e)(2), and the vessel is sold free of all those claims. (b) — Those ended claims move to the money from the sale instead, keeping the same dollar amounts and the same order of priority, except: a preferred mortgage lien, including one on a foreign vessel guaranteed under chapter 537, ranks ahead of every other claim except court-allowed expenses and fees, court costs, and "preferred maritime liens"; but for a foreign vessel whose mortgage was not guaranteed under chapter 537, the preferred mortgage lien ranks below a maritime lien for necessaries supplied in the United States.