Have you been wondering exactly what a “Coast Guard documented vessel” is? Do you read phrases like “Certificate of Documentation” and it all feels a bit alien, a bit like “legalese” to you? If so, you aren’t alone. So many of us at our site are vessel owners ourselves, so we understand how vessel documentation jargon can sound. Whenever possible, we want to make the process as easy as possible for our clients. If you want to know a bit more about documentation (or are just looking for a refresher) read on.
What Coast Guard Documented Vessel Means
A Coast Guard documented vessel means, simply, a vessel that has been documented with the Coast Guard. Vessels are only eligible for this if they measure five net tons and are wholly owned by a citizen of the United States. Now, there are some vessels that have to be registered with the Coast Guard. This includes vessels that are going to be used for commercial fishing on the navigable waters of the United States or in the EEZ, the Exclusive Economic Zone. Additionally, vessels that are going to be used for coastwise operations (transporting people and/or merchandise) on those same waters must be documented.
How to Document Your Vessel With the Coast Guard
The above section dealt with some (but not all) of the sorts of vessel use that necessitate documentation. If you decide to document your vessel through us, you can do so in only a few steps. Simply click on “initial” on the left side of our site then fill out the corresponding form. To save yourself even more time, you only have to fill out the blanks that have a little mark next to them. As our site is optimized for mobile devices, you can fill these out practically anywhere.
Ways to Maintain that Documentation
You can maintain this documentation by renewing your documentation through our site as well. As your documentation has to be renewed every single year, you can do it year by year. However, to make it easier on yourself, we understand that some vessel owners don’t want to do that. Instead, you can choose to renew for up to five years in advance. To do that, all you have to do is to choose to renew for one, two, three, four, or even five years at once when you renew.
More Services Than Just Documentation
Documentation and renewing documentation are some of the most common uses of our site, yes. However, they’re far from the only ways that people use our site. Indeed, you can use our site to file for a preferred ship’s mortgage (if your vessel is documented) you can use it to transfer/exchange the ownership of a vessel (if it’s already documented), and many, many others. To see all of the ways that our documents can help vessel owners such as yourself, just click on our site today.