Federal · Title 47 — Telecommunications

47 U.S.C. § 24: Vessels laying cables; signals; avoidance of buoys

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

A vessel master who fails to follow collision-prevention signals while laying cables, does not maintain required distance from cable-repair ships, or does not keep distance from cable-marking buoys commits a misdemeanor punishable by up to one month imprisonment or a $500 fine.

Read the full statutory text

The master of any vessel which, while engaged in laying or repairing submarine cables, shall fail to observe the rules concerning signals that have been or shall be adopted by the parties to the convention described in section 30 of this title with a view to preventing collisions at sea; or the master of any vessel that, perceiving, or being able to perceive the said signals displayed upon a telegraph ship engaged in repairing a cable, shall not withdraw to or keep at distance of at least one nautical mile; or the master of any vessel that seeing or being able to see buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall not keep at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or to a fine of not exceeding $500.

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