§ 2281. Violence against maritime fixed platforms

853 words·~4 min read·/usc/title-18/section-2281

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)Offenses.—

(1)In general.— A person who unlawfully and intentionally—

(A)seizes or exercises control over a fixed platform by force or threat thereof or any other form of intimidation;

(B)performs an act of violence against a person on board a fixed platform if that act is likely to endanger its safety;

(C)destroys a fixed platform or causes damage to it which is likely to endanger its safety;

(D)places or causes to be placed on a fixed platform, by any means whatsoever, a device or substance which is likely to destroy that fixed platform or likely to endanger its safety;

(E)injures or kills any person in connection with the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses set forth in subparagraphs

(A)through (D); or

(F)attempts or conspires to do anything prohibited under subparagraphs

(A)through (E),

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this paragraph, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

(2)Threat to safety.— A person who threatens to do anything prohibited under paragraph (1)(B) or (C), with apparent determination and will to carry the threat into execution, if the threatened act is likely to endanger the safety of the fixed platform, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(b)Jurisdiction.— There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection

(a)if—

(1)such activity is committed against or on board a fixed platform—

(A)that is located on the continental shelf of the United States;

(B)that is located on the continental shelf of another country, by a national of the United States or by a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the United States; or

(C)in an attempt to compel the United States to do or abstain from doing any act;

(2)during the commission of such activity against or on board a fixed platform located on a continental shelf, a national of the United States is seized, threatened, injured or killed; or

(3)such activity is committed against or on board a fixed platform located outside the United States and beyond the continental shelf of the United States and the offender is later found in the United States.

(c)Bar To Prosecution.— It is a bar to Federal prosecution under subsection

(a)for conduct that occurred within the United States that the conduct involved was during or in relation to a labor dispute, and such conduct is prohibited as a felony under the law of the State in which it was committed. For purposes of this section, the term “labor dispute” has the meaning set forth in section 13(c) of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, as amended (29 U.S.C. 113(c)), and the term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.

(d)Definitions.— “continental shelf” means the sea-bed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond a country’s territorial sea to the limits provided by customary international law as reflected in Article 76 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“fixed platform” means an artificial island, installation or structure permanently attached to the sea-bed for the purpose of exploration or exploitation of resources or for other economic purposes.

(e)Exceptions.— This section does not apply to—

(1)the activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under the law of war, which are governed by that law; or

(2)activities undertaken by military forces of a state in the exercise of their official duties.

(Added Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60019(a), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1977; amended Pub. L. 104–132, title VII, § 723(a)(1), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1300; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 607(p), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3513; Pub. L. 114–23, title VIII, § 803, June 2, 2015, 129 Stat. 307.)