46 U.S.C. § 70502 — Definitions

(a) The definitions in section 102 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 apply here. (b) “Vessel^* of the United States” means: (1) a vessel documented under chapter 121 or numbered under chapter 123; (2) a vessel partly owned by a United States citizen, the United States, a State^* or its subdivision, or a corporation formed under United States or State law, unless it has foreign nationality under article 5 of the 1958 Convention on the High Seas and its master or person in charge claims that nationality or registry during the United States enforcement action; or (3) a vessel once documented under United States law that was unlawfully sold to a noncitizen, foreign-registered, or operated under foreign authority, whether or not it received foreign nationality. (c) “Vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” includes: a vessel without nationality; one treated as such under article 6(2) of that Convention; a foreign-registered vessel whose nation consents or waives objection to United States enforcement; one in United States customs waters; one in a foreign nation’s territorial waters when that nation consents; and one in the United States contiguous zone that is entering or has left the United States or is a hovering vessel under the cited tariff law. Foreign consent or waiver may be oral or electronic and is conclusively proved by certification from the Secretary of State or designee. (d) “Vessel without nationality” includes one whose claimed registry is denied; one whose master or person in charge refuses, when properly asked, to claim nationality or registry; one whose claimed nation does not affirmatively and clearly confirm its nationality; and one with no person claiming to be master or in charge and no other qualifying nationality or registry claim. A foreign response may be oral or electronic and is conclusively proved by the Secretary of State’s certification. (e) A nationality or registry claim consists only of carrying and producing nationality documents under article 5 of that Convention, flying the nation’s flag, or a spoken claim by the master or person in charge. (f)(1) “Semi-submersible vessel” means watercraft built or adapted to operate with most of its hull and bulk underwater, whether manned or unmanned. (2) “Submersible vessel” means a vessel able to operate completely underwater, whether manned or unmanned.