1. (a) In General.— A license issued under this part is valid for a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods; except that the validity of a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission.
2. (b) Advance Renewals.— A renewed license issued under this part may be issued up to 8 months in advance but is not effective until the date that the previously issued license expires or until the completion of any active suspension or revocation of that previously issued merchant mariner’s document, whichever is later.

(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 540; Pub. L. 101–380, title IV, § 4102(a), Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 509; Pub. L. 111–281, title VI, § 614(b), Oct. 15, 2010, 124 Stat. 2970.)

Section 7106 sets a 5 year time limit on the validity of a license. It also requires a licensed radio officer to be in continuous possession of an FCC license.

Amendments

2010—Pub. L. 111–281 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “A license issued under this part is valid for 5 years and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods. However, the validity of a license issued to a radio officer is conditioned on the continuous possession by the holder of a first-class or second-class radiotelegraph operator license issued by the Federal Communications Commission.”

1990—Pub. L. 101–380 inserted “and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods” after “for 5 years”.

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as an Effective Date note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters.

Termination of Existing Licenses, Certificates, and Documents; Applicability of 1990 Amendment

Pub. L. 101–380, title IV, § 4102(d), Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 510, provided that:

“A license, certificate of registry, or merchant mariner’s document issued before the date of the enactment of this section [Aug. 18, 1990] terminates on the day it would have expired if—

1. “(1) subsections (a), (b), and (c) [amending this section and sections 7107 and 7302 of this title] were in effect on the date it was issued; and
2. “(2) it was renewed at the end of each 5-year period under section 7106, 7107, or 7302 of title 46, United States Code.”