§ 738. International agreements as to ice patrol and derelict destruction; allocation of expenses
The President is authorized to conclude agreements with interested maritime nations
(a)
to maintain in the north Atlantic Ocean a service of ice patrol, of study and observation of ice and current conditions, and of assistance to vessels and their crews requiring aid within the limits of the patrol;
(b)
to maintain a service of study and observation of ice and current conditions in such waters as may affect the set and drift of ice in the north Atlantic Ocean; and
(c)
to undertake all practicable steps to insure the destruction or removal of derelicts in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, east of the line drawn from Cape Sable to a point in latitude thirty-four degrees north, longitude seventy degrees west, if this destruction or removal is necessary. The President is further authorized to include in such agreements a provision for payment to the United States by the countries concerned, of their proportionate share of the expense for maintenance of the services named, or for the United States to contribute its proportionate share should it be agreed that another country was to maintain the patrol.