How to Register a Boat From Anywhere at Any Time

Have you been trying to figure out how to register a boat but it still seems like more of a challenge than it should be? Are you on the fence, so to speak, about whether to register your boat or not? Here at our vessel documentation site, we have helped many over the years to register their boat. Beyond that, we’ve also helped vessel owners to understand if they want to register their boats as well as why they may want to.

Rush if You Need
The actual process of registering your boat at our site is simply defined. Just click on “Initial” on our site and fill out the forms with the little marks on them. It really is that easy. If you want to get it done just a bit faster, to put your form at the top of our queue, we can help with that, too. Just opt for “rush processing” and we’ll make sure that you and your registration are our top priority.

Qualifications to Meet
You can register your boat if it measures at least five net tons and is owned by a US citizen. “Net tonnage,” of course, doesn’t measure weight, it measures volume. You can do the calculations, you can pay someone to do the measuring, or you can just look at your boat: if it’s longer than 25 feet, then you’ve got a vessel that measures at least five net tons. Even so, it’s your choice to register your vessel. It’s your choice, that is, unless you plan on using your vessel in commercial fishing or coastwise trade activities. Then, you have to register it.

Don’t Worry About the Time or the Location
If you go through our site, you can register your vessel how and when you would like. You can do it through our site 24/7. Our site was specifically designed to be something that will open on any device swiftly and quickly, so you aren’t tied to a desktop or anything like that. Moreover, our site has been SSL encrypted, meaning that it has the best security currently available. If something better comes along we’ll use that, as we see it as one more way that we can provide the best services for the vessel owners we work with.

Now You Know How to Register a Boat, What Else You Can Do
Of course, once you’ve registered your vessel, if you’re like so many, in a year’s time, you’re going to want to renew it. You can use our site for that as well. In fact, if you’d like you can renew for up to five years in advance. We have plenty of other documentation forms for registered vessels. You can choose to apply for a Preferred Ship’s Mortgage, change your endorsement (if necessary) and so much more. To see all of the ways that we can help you in addition to registering your vessel, we encourage you to view the rest of our site.

An Expedited Process for Coast Guard Vessel Documentation

Have you been looking for an easier way to complete your Coast Guard vessel documentation? When you sit down to do it, does it seem like it’s far more difficult than it ever should be? Those are just some of the reasons that we started our national documentation portal. Here, we make the process easier on vessel owners such as yourself in a wide variety of ways, advantages that you may not be able to find elsewhere.

All the Forms in One Portal
The days of having to search around from one site to another to find all of the forms that you’ll need are over. Instead, everything you need is right here, in one place. So, whether you’re researching a vessel (the abstract of title, the documentation search), documenting a vessel, renewing it, applying for a Preferred Ship’s Mortgage, satisfying that mortgage, selling the vessel, and more, you can find it all right here, all in one place.

Accessible from Anywhere at Any Time
We don’t believe that you should only be able to complete your vessel documentation forms from a desktop computer or anything of that nature. So, our forms have been optimized for mobile devices. You can fill out these forms from anywhere on a device of your choice. Whether you’re on your phone, your tablet, or anything else, you can complete them when you’d like. During halftime, when you’re riding in a Lyft, in line at the bank, when a meeting has yet to start, or anywhere else – if you’ve got a minute, you can make progress on these forms.

For Those in a Rush
We know that, for many of our vessel owners, getting your documentation as soon as possible can only help your business. To that end, with many of our forms, we offer rush processing. That means we’ll put it right at the top of our queue. We see it as one more way that we can help more vessel owners to be able to get what they want when they want it.

Document Processors for Better Documentation
Typos. Small errors. If you’re like many, that’s just one more thing that’s kept you from filling out these forms, procrastinating on them, and so forth. But, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. We hired the absolute best document processors in the industry. They’ll go through your forms, completely and comprehensively, finding and fixing any small errors that might exist before we pass them on to the powers that be.

Your Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Portal
Those are just some of the ways that we help vessel owners (and prospective vessel owners) at any time, during any season. If you have more questions, we’re happy to answer them. We know that documentation can be a bit opaque at first (to put it mildly), so we aim to have our portal serve as a resource for vessel owners to not just complete the forms but to learn what they need to know as well. To see how we can help you, click here.

What a Boat Registration Search at Our Site Can Do and How We Can Help

Have you been trying to learn more about a given vessel that you’re interested in but aren’t sure who to turn to for information? Does it feel as if it’s more difficult than ever to find vessel info you can trust? The internet provides lots of information, certainly, but it can be more challenging than ever to find information from an unimpeachable source. That’s what we can offer through a boat registration search at our site as well as through other methods.

What Does a Boat Registration Search Show?
A search at our site is simple: just type in a vessel’s HIN (hull identification number) or its Official Number. With that, you’ll get information about the boat’s registration, such as if it’s registered, the status of that registration, when it expires (if applicable), and so forth. Beyond that, you’ll also be provided the vessel’s dimensions, as well as plenty of other particulars. This information comes from a source you can trust: the United States Coast Guard database.

How Can I Find Vessel Ownership Information?
If you read through the above paragraph, you’ll note that at no point did it say “owner.” That information was scrubbed from the internet sometime in 2018. You can still use our site to learn the identity of a vessel’s owner, the chain of ownership, and so forth. All you have to do is to apply for an Abstract of Title. This Abstract will give you not just the owner but all of the owners when the vessel has been documented. Beyond that, you’ll also be provided the truth about any liens or mortgages on the vessel, whether they’ve been satisfied or if they’re outstanding, and more.

How Can I Learn About Vessels in Other Countries?
Beyond the above options, we can also provide you with a way to learn more about vessels in select other countries, too. If you have your eye on a vessel in the UK, Canada, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and elsewhere, you can use the “Foreign Vessel Trade Request” form at our site. That will give you a comparable amount of information as the forms listed above.

Why Is It Important to Know This Information About a Vessel?
So that you make the right decision. You don’t want to purchase a vessel that’s in worse condition (or older) than you’ve been led to believe. Moreover, you certainly don’t want to buy a vessel that has all manner of undisclosed liens and/or mortgages against it. Really, by gathering the information listed above, you’re protecting your investment as well as yourself.

A Home for Boat Documentation
Those are just some of the forms of vessel documentation that we can help you to procure. Indeed, many who use the above forms to choose a vessel for purchase then turn around and use our site to register their vessel with the USCG. To see all of the ways that we can help, click here.

The Boat Documentation Services We Offer Year Round

Have you been looking to take care of different boat documentation forms but aren’t sure if it’s worth it this late in the summer? Do you want to work with a vessel documentation service that actually makes the process easier on vessel owners? Vessel owners from all walks of life have used our boat documentation services to not just complete the forms, but as a resource, to better understand what they need to do and when. We see it as one more way that we can help vessel owners.

Registration
If you haven’t registered your vessel yet, it’s entirely reasonable to think: “Well, geez, it’s just about August. Do I really want to register my vessel with summer coming to a close?” The truth is, however, that vessel documentation lasts for an entire calendar year. So, there’s still plenty of time to be able to use your documented vessel on the warm waters under the summer sun.

Renewal
That said, if you get your vessel documented this July or August, it’ll be due at this same time next year. That’s true, however, unless you avail yourself of our services to document your vessel for up to five years in advance. With that, you won’t have to worry about renewing your vessel for the next half-decade. You don’t have to go that long, of course, you can renew for up to two, three, or four years as well. It’s one more way to give yourself one less thing to worry about.

Change Your Endorsement
Maybe, at some point in the next year, after you document your vessel, you decide to change how you want to use that vessel. Perhaps you got your vessel registered to take advantage of a commercial fishing opportunity, only to find that, as summer turns to fall, you can make more money transporting folks around to see the leaves change color than you can fish. For that or any other reason, you can use the “Change of Endorsement/Trade Indicator” form at our site to change your vessel’s endorsement to what best suits how you want to use it.

Apply for that Preferred Ship’s Mortgage  
Of course, not all vessel owners document their vessels because they’re going to use them for commerce. Indeed, many are used only for recreation, but, vessel owners want to document them so as to be able to apply for a First Preferred Ship’s mortgage. You can find the forms to submit for this mortgage through our site as well (in addition to the forms for when you satisfy that mortgage, too!)

Boat Documentation Services for Every Season
The weather outside will change. The rolling seas of summer will become the frozen, icy glass of winter. Then, come spring, it’ll all thaw again and the cycle will begin anew. No matter what happens outside, however, you’ll be able to find all of the vessel documentation forms you’ll need through the course of vessel ownership at our site at any time. To see what we offer, click here.

Need to Know USCG Requirements: Documentation, Preferred Mortgages, and More

Are you unsure as to whether or not you can register your vessel? Do you want to get a First Preferred Ship Mortgage but don’t know if your vessel would qualify? These are some of the questions that we can help with here at the National Documentation Portal. We didn’t just make this portal for applying for documentation (although certainly many, many folks have used it for exactly that) but also to serve as a resource, to be able to comply with USCG Requirements as well as provide answers to questions regular people have about boat registration and more.

What Vessels Can I Register?
You can register your vessel with the USCG so long as it measures at least five net tons and is wholly owned by a citizen of the United States. Presumably, in this scenario, you are the citizen, so you likely have that one covered. On the other hand, “net tonnage” measures not weight but volume. So, you can have that professionally measured, you can do the calculations yourself, or you can “eyeball” it. Meaning: if your vessel is 25 feet or longer, then it almost invariably measures at least five net tons.

What Vessels Do I Have to Register?
You have to register your vessel if it meets the above standards and you’re going to use it in certain trades. If you’re going to use it for commercial fishing and/or coastwise trade, then you have to register it. “Coastwise,” in this context, basically means transporting people and/or goods. Specifically, you have to register your vessel if you’re going to engage in those activities on the navigable waters of the United States or what’s called the “EEZ,” the “Exclusive Economic Zone.”

To Get a First Preferred Ship’s Mortgage, Does My Vessel Have to Be Registered?
To qualify, first, your vessel has to be registered. It has to be documented with the USCG. Now, you may have read this part and thought: “Wait, the only way for me to get this mortgage is to use my boat for some commercial activity?” No. Absolutely not. You can use your vessel for recreation, to have a good time with family and friends. Indeed, when you complete your initial registration application, choose “recreation” for how you’ll use your vessel. That’s the most common endorsement, a statement of purpose for how you’ll use your vessel. Then, you can meet the registration requirement for the mortgage while using your vessel to have a good time.

Meeting USCG Requirements for Years
We have helped vessel owners from all walks of life to be able to get the documentation that they need for their vessels. Now, we can put that experience to work for you. We don’t just offer the forms, rather, we offer a better process. For example, when you complete these forms, our document processors will get right to work making sure there aren’t any little errors before we pass them along. To see how we can help and the forms we offer, check out the rest of our site.

When You Need Coast Guard Renewal Documentation and When You Don’t

Have you been wondering if it’s the right time for your Coast Guard renewal of documentation? Do you find that it’s more difficult to renew your documentation than it should be? That’s just one of the reasons that we started the National Documentation Portal in the first place. Here, we know how onerous it can be to have to renew your documentation year after year. Thus, we’ve done quite a bit to make it easier to do so. Below are some of the questions we’re often asked.

When Can I Renew My Coast Guard Documentation?
We recommend doing so within thirty days of your documentation expiring. To do it earlier than that can change the month that your documentation becomes due the next year. For example, say that your documentation expires in November. You like to do things ahead of time, so you decide to renew in September. That takes care of the current year, sure, but, next year, when your renewal is due again, it’ll be due this time in September. Thus, you basically lost a bit of money. Doing it within 30 days is the best course of action.

How Does Coast Guard Renewal Documentation Work?
At our site, renewal is a streamlined process. Simply click on the icon on our home page, then go to the renewal form, fill out the form (if you’re really pressed for time, just complete the ones with the little mark by them), and then send it in. In fact, if you want to further expedite the matter, you can opt for “rush processing” as well. We see it as one more way that we can help our clients with the process.

My Documentation Expired, Can I Still Renew It?
You can’t “renew” it. But, you will be able to “reinstate” it. If your documentation has expired for 30 days or more, then you’re going to need to reinstate your documentation. You can do that through our site as well. Simply click on the “reinstatement” option on our home page and follow the steps listed above in regard to completion.

I Lost My Certificate of Documentation. What Now?
If you don’t have a physical Certificate of Documentation, then your registration is no longer valid. Thus, you need to get a “replacement,” which, thankfully, you can also do through our site. To keep this from happening in the future and protect your registration, you can get a Certified Copy through us as well.

A National Documentation Portal for National Documentation
At our site, most likely, the most popular form is the one for renewal. That said, that’s far from all of the documentation that we offer. Indeed, you’ll be able to find all of the forms that you need throughout the course of vessel ownership. You can even get your initial registration, delete it (should that be necessary), and much, much more. To see all of the ways that we help vessel owners, view the rest of our site.

USCG Documentation Center on the MARAD Waiver: Use Your Boat How You Want

 Did you recently acquire a foreign-built vessel and want to use it to make money somehow but aren’t sure about the legality of doing so? Have you found an opportunity for a small passenger vessel and want to have all of your “i’s dotted and t’s crossed” before taking advantage of it? Those are just some of the reasons that vessel owners come to our USCG documentation center to apply for a MARAD waiver. This waiver can help you to use your vessel in the manner you want.

What is the MARAD Waiver?
Essentially, this document waives the “American-build” requirement in the Jones Act. The Jones Act essentially says that, whenever possible, vessels that are going to engage in coastwise trade here in America have to be built here in America. Certainly, you can see the logic in such a stipulation. That said, this waiver can make it so that, in certain situations, a vessel that was built in a foreign country can be used in certain activities right here in America.

Who’s Eligible for a MARAD Waiver?
First, the vessel has to be owned by a citizen of the United States or an organization. Provided you and your organization meet that requirement, then the vessel itself has to be at least three years old. So, this can’t just be some just-made foreign vessel, it has to have been around for a while. If that’s the case, then, provided you’re going to use it only to carry a small amount of passengers, then, yes, you can submit for a MARAD waiver. Bear in mind: we’re a documentation portal, we aren’t lawyers. We can’t tell you if this is the right course of action for you, but we can provide you with the forms.

What Can I Do With a MARAD Waiver?
You can use it to transport up to 12 passengers at a time when in service. This number is “set in stone,” so to speak. You can’t transport more than 12 people when in operation no matter what. That means you can’t use it for salvage, commercial fishing, transporting goods for money, taking a large group out on a tour, or anything of that nature. You can use it for recreational fishing, but you can’t sell what you catch. 12 passengers at one time, max – that’s it.

A USCG Documentation Center That Can Help
For many vessel owners, when they apply for a MARAD Waiver through our site, they also decide to send in their documentation (with a coastwise endorsement) at the exact same time. That can be the right decision for you should your vessel meet the USCG requirement of measuring at least five net tons (i. E. it’s at least 25 feet in length). Beyond that, should you qualify, we can also help you with your documentation renewal and so much more. To see all of the ways that we can help you with vessel documentation, check out the rest of our site.

The Abstract of Title: The Info You May Need for Your Vessel

Are you looking for the owner of a particular vessel? Have you looked online and either can’t find the information or, alternatively, don’t trust the information you have found? Here at the National Documentation Portal, we can help. We know that, when it comes to an investment as sizable (literally and financially) as a vessel, you can’t be too careful, or too sure. So, to that end, we offer access to apply for an Abstract of Title among other forms of documentation to help you find the info you need.

What’s in the Abstract of Title?
Essentially, this abstract is the history of a vessel. It lets you know about a vessel’s past, and the time during which it was documented with the USCG. So, you’ll learn the identity of the owner as well as the entire chain of ownership. On top of that, you’ll also get information about mortgages and liens against the vessel: are there any? And, if there are, have they been satisfied or not? That’s just some of the information this abstract can contain.

Why Would Someone Need this Abstract?
Simply put, you need this info so that you’re buying a vessel that’s “free and clear” of any liens or mortgages. A potential nightmare scenario: a prospective buyer researches a vessel, everything seems great, and the owner sure talks it up, but, tragically, the prospective buyer never applies for an Abstract. Then, once they’ve purchased the vessel, they find that there are plenty of outstanding liens and mortgages against the vessel, all of which are now the problem of the new owner as the previous owner has taken off to parts unknown. This is an extreme hypothetical, obviously, but this kind of thing can happen.

What Other Ways Can I Get Vessel Info Through Your Site?
The Abstract of Title is just one of the ways. You can also perform a vessel documentation search at our site as well. This can give you information about a vessel’s particulars, its dimensions, as well as the status of its documentation. You’ll know when the vessel’s documentation is up, and so forth. This won’t give you the vessel’s owner – for that, you’ll need the Abstract. If the vessel is in one of certain overseas countries, you can also use Foreign Vessel Title Search Request as well.

Help Throughout the Documentation Process
You can use our site to find the information you’ll need to know about a vessel before making the purchase. Should you go through with the purchase (and should the vessel meet USCG requirements) then you’ll be able to document and maintain that documentation through our site as well. Indeed, plenty of vessel owners start by researching vessels through our site and then stay to complete all of their documentation needs through us, as well. To see all of the ways that we can help vessel owners throughout the course of vessel ownership, check out the rest of our site.

USCG Documentation Renewal Done in Minutes Flat

Have you been procrastinating on your USCG documentation renewal? Did you ever sit down to actually complete this document only to find some reason to put it off, to keep yourself from doing it? If so, you aren’t alone. Completing vessel documentation, whether it’s your USCG documentation renewal or anything else, is not something that most people look forward to. However, here at the National Documentation Portal, we wanted to make the process as simple and seamless as possible.

Find it Right On the Home Page
You don’t have to go far to find this file. Indeed, you can find it right here on our home page. It’s right at the top because, frankly, this is one of the most popularly used forms on our site. Click on that and it’ll open up, quickly and easily, so that you can fill this out at your pace. No handwritten forms, no tough-to-see blanks, nothing that takes too long to load – just click and begin to complete.

Fill Out the Blanks that Matter
We understand how important your time is, and how much you have to do. To that end, we’ve made this form so that you only have to fill out the parts that really matter to have it processed properly. So, just complete the parts that have been marked. Of course, you can fill out all of it, but, if you’re just in a hurry, you can fill out the blanks we’ve marked.

Document Processors = Your Assistant
If you’ve ever filled out vessel documentation before then you know what a concern typos can be. Even the smallest errors (particularly in the hand-written days) could slow the process considerably, even getting your forms sent back to you without the renewal complete. We do everything in our power to avoid that at our site. Here, we make it so that even if you have a couple of typos, small errors, and the like, our document processors will catch them and fix them so that you don’t have to worry. If there are big mistakes, we’ll reach out to you.

Do It From Anywhere and at Any Time
You don’t have to worry about office hours either when you fill out these forms. Do it on your time, and on your schedule. That’s why we made them optimized for mobile devices: complete them from anywhere when you want. On your lunch break, in line at the restroom, during commercials on TV, when you have a free moment at work – the choice is yours. It’s your documentation, you should be able to go through the renewal process how and when you want.

USCG Documentation Renewal for a Long Time to Come
Of course, when it comes to vessel documentation, you probably know that you have to renew every single year. But, now you can renew for up to five years. That way, you give yourself one less thing to worry about, one less concern related to your vessel. To complete this form and all of the others we offer, head to our site.

How to Use Our NVDC to Find the Info You Want on a Vessel

Have you been trying to find out more information about a given vessel but aren’t sure who you can trust? Does it seem as if everything you read is too good to be true? It’s natural to be distrustful of what you read online, especially when it comes to something as significant as an investment in a boat. That’s why, before you make a purchase, you want to be sure that you get as much info as possible from a source you can trust. Our NVDC can help in a variety of ways so that you can get the info you need.

The Search

At our site, you can conduct a vessel search. All you need to do this search is the vessel’s HIN (hull identification number) or its official number. With that, you’ll be able to get plenty of info at our site for free. Specifically, you’ll be getting info from the USCG database, an unimpeachable source. This information can include the vessel’s dimensions, its particulars, whether or not it’s documented, and when that documentation will expire.

The Abstract of Title

What you won’t find in a search through our site is the owner, their identity, how many owners there have been, and so forth. To get that information (and many more in-depth facts about a vessel) you’re going to want to get the Abstract of Title. This document can tell you who the owner is, as well as how many owners there have been. On top of that, you’ll be informed whether or not there are any mortgages and/or liens against the vessel. If they’ve been satisfied, that info will be here. If they haven’t, that info will be here, too.

Overseas Vessels

You aren’t just limited to getting information about vessels here in America through our site. For example, you can use the “Foreign Vessel Title Search Request” here to learn much more about vessels from Britain, Canada, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and elsewhere. All of this info can help you make the right decision about whether or not a vessel would be a good purchase for you.

Once You Have the Info You Want, Our NVDC Is Here

For many vessel owners, the first time they’ve ever used our National Documentation Portal is to perform a search, request an Abstract, and so forth. Then, with that information, they can determine whether or not to purchase a vessel. Many do and subsequently come back to our site to be able to register their vessel, renew that registration, and more. If you decide to register your vessel, you can even use our site for your Preferred Ship’s Mortgage documentation, when you satisfy it, and so much more. To see all of the different ways that we can help you with the proper forms at every stage of vessel ownership, check out the rest of our site today.