---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 30706"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "30706"
heading: "Defenses"
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/30706"
units:
  - "Subtitle III — Maritime Liability"
  - "Chapter 307 — Liability of Water Carriers"
---

# §30706. Defenses

- (a) **Due Diligence.—** If a [carrier](/usc/46/30701.md) has exercised due diligence to make the [vessel](/usc/46/115.md) in all respects seaworthy and to properly man, equip, and supply the [vessel](/usc/46/115.md), the [carrier](/usc/46/30701.md) and the [vessel](/usc/46/115.md) are not liable for loss or damage arising from an error in the navigation or management of the [vessel](/usc/46/115.md).
- (b) **Other Defenses.—** A [carrier](/usc/46/30701.md) and the [vessel](/usc/46/115.md) are not liable for loss or damage arising from—
  - (1) dangers of the sea or other navigable waters;
  - (2) acts of God;
  - (3) public enemies;
  - (4) seizure under legal process;
  - (5) inherent defect, quality, or vice of the goods;
  - (6) insufficiency of package;
  - (7) act or omission of the shipper or owner of the goods or their agent; or
  - (8) saving or attempting to save life or property at sea, including a deviation in rendering such a service.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 6(c), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1517.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 30706 | 46 App.:192. | Feb. 13, 1893, ch. 105, § 3, 27 Stat. 445. |

This section is restated as two subsections to clarify that the exercise of due diligence in making the vessel seaworthy is a condition only to the defense of error in navigation or management restated in subsection (a). See May v. Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt Aktiengesellschaft (The Isis), 290 U.S. 333, 353 (1933). The words “transporting merchandise or property to or from any port in the United States of America” are omitted because of section 30702(a) of the revised title.