---
title: "Compare a vessel safety management system with 46 USC sections 3202 and 3203"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/maritime-shipping-and-transport/compare-a-domestic-commercial-vessel-safety-management-system-with-the-c/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A37-NE20261022-3-US"
practice_area: "Maritime, Shipping & Transport"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Compare a vessel safety management system with 46 USC sections 3202 and 3203

> From the safety management system and the elements listed in 46 USC section 3203(a), mark whether the system document addresses each element, including the safety and environmental policy, emergency procedures, and…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/maritime-shipping-and-transport/compare-a-domestic-commercial-vessel-safety-management-system-with-the-c/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Maritime, Shipping & Transport](https://ailawframework.com/practice/maritime-shipping-and-transport.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | From the safety management system and the elements listed in 46 USC section 3203(a), mark whether the system document addresses each element, including the safety and environmental policy, emergency procedures, and internal audits. Do not rewrite the system and do not decide that chapter 32 applies. |
| What the lawyer must review | Section 3203 directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations establishing a safety management system for responsible persons and vessels to which chapter 32 applies, including the eight elements in subsection (a). Subsection (d) requires those regulations to be consistent with the International Safety Management Code for vessels covered by section 3202(a). Section 3202(a) covers stated passenger and 500-gross-ton cargo categories on a foreign voyage, or a foreign vessel departing a place under United States jurisdiction on a voyage any part of which is on the high seas. Subsection (b) covers other passenger vessels, and regulations under section 3203 issued on or after enactment of the Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 apply to covered small passenger vessels as defined in section 3306(n)(5). That definition, and section 2101(31)(A), were not opened. Subsection (d) excludes a barge, a recreational vessel not in commercial service, a fishing vessel, a stated Great Lakes vessel, and a public vessel, unless the owner asks for the chapter under subsection (c). You decide whether this vessel is in the chapter and what must change. ABA Formal Opinion 512 requires you to supervise this comparison. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Compare a domestic commercial vessel safety management system with the current marine order](https://ailawframework.com/practice/maritime-shipping-and-transport/compare-a-domestic-commercial-vessel-safety-management-system-with-the-c.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: From the safety management system and the elements listed in 46 USC section 3203(a), mark whether the system document addresses each element, including the safety and environmental policy, emergency procedures, and internal audits. Do not rewrite the system and do not decide that chapter 32 applies.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Section 3203(a)(6) cross-refers to the list and log in section 3106. Section 3106 was not opened.
- A domestic vessel outside section 3202 is not given a safety-management duty by these two sections. 33 CFR part 96 was not opened.

## Sources

- [46 USC section 3203 (safety management system)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/46/3203) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [46 USC section 3202 (application of the safety-management chapter)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/46/3202) (checked 2026-10-22)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*