Plunder of distressed vessel
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
(a) Whoever plunders, steals, or destroys any money, goods, merchandise, or other effects from or belonging to any vessel in distress, or wrecked, lost, stranded, or cast away, upon the sea, or upon any reef, shoal, bank, or rocks of the sea, or in any other place within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, shall be or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b) Whoever obstructs the escape of any person endeavoring to save his life from such vessel, or the wreck thereof; or
Whoever holds out or shows any false light, or extinguishes any true light, with intent to bring any vessel sailing upon the sea into danger or distress or shipwreck—
Shall be imprisoned not less than ten years and may be imprisoned for life.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 775 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB).)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to steal or destroy money or goods from a ship that is in distress, wrecked, or stranded. It is also a crime to willfully block people escaping a wreck, or to show false lights or put out true lights to cause a shipwreck.