12 2 STA T .4 2 97PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 407 —O CT. 1 3, 200 8‘ ‘ (d)CLAIMOFN A T IO N ALIT Y O RREG I S TRY .—Aclaimofn a t ion - alit y o r r eg i s try u nder t h is section includes only— ‘‘( 1 ) p ossession on b oard the v essel and production of docu- ments evidencing the vessel ’ s nationality as provided in article 5 ofthe1 9 5 8 Convention on the H igh S eas
‘‘( 2 ) flying its nation’s ensign or flag; or ‘‘( 3 ) a verbal claim of nationality or registry by the master or individual in charge of the vessel. ‘‘(e) AFFIRMATI V E D EFENSES.— ‘‘(1) I N GENERAL.—It is an affirmative defense to a prosecu- tion for a violation of subsection (a) ,w hich the defendant has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence, that the submersible vessel or semi-submersible vessel involved was, at the time of the offense— ‘‘(A) a vessel of the U nited States or lawfully registered in a foreign nation as claimed by the master or individual in charge of the vessel when re q uested to ma k e a claim by an officer of the United States authori z ed to enforce applicable provisions of United States law; ‘‘( B ) classed by and designed in accordance with the rules of a classification society; ‘‘(C) lawfully operated in government-regulated or licensed activity, including commerce, research, or e x plo- ration; or ‘‘(D) equipped with and using an operable automatic identification system, vessel monitoring system, or long range identification and tracking system. ‘‘(2) P RO DUC TION OF DOCUMENTS.— T he affirmative defenses provided by this subsection are proved conclusively by the production of— ‘‘(A) government documents evidencing the vessel’s nationality at the time of the offense, as provided in article 5 of the 1958 Convention on the High Seas; ‘‘(B) a certificate of classification issued by the vessel’s classification society upon completion of relevant classifica- tion surveys and valid at the time of the offense; or ‘‘(C) government documents evidencing licensure, regu- lation, or registration for commerce, research, or explo- ration. ‘‘(f) F EDERAL ACTIVITIES EX CE P TED.—Nothing in this section applies to lawfully authorized activities carried out by or at the direction of the United States G overnment. ‘‘(g) APPLICA B ILITY OF O T H ER PROVISIONS.—Sections 70 50 4 and 70505 of title 4 6 apply to offenses under this section in the same manner as they apply to offenses under section 70503 of such title. ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘submersible vessel’, ‘semi-submersible vessel’, ‘vessel of the United States’, and ‘vessel without nationality’ have the meaning given those terms in section 70502 of title 46.’’.
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