Quick checks of Snopes, Google and GQ yielded nothing. Feel free to paddle me if I missed something here.
There’s a common conception, used in The Simpsons and the Montel Williams show among many other places, that sea captains are authorized to solemnize marriages. (In the International Waters ep of The Simpsons, Captain McAllister performs a marriage while in international waters. I understand that Montel Williams occasionally performs marriages on his show because he used to be a sea captain and now “captains the Good Ship Montel,” though I haven’t watched it in ages.)
Pretty straightforward. Can sea captains perform marriages? Why?
I seem to recall reading (I’m sorry, I don’t have a cite for this) that despite the myth, ships captains were, in fact, prohibited from performing marriages on their ships (although I would presume that if he were otherwise eligible [JoTP, minister, priest, rabbi, etc.] that he would be eligible) and can be imprisioned for doing so.
