You can complete a Coast Guard database at our site or you can request an Abstract of Title.
For a NVDC vessel search at our site, simply click on “Documented Vessel Search at Maritime Documentation Center.” Then, enter a vessel’s official number and/or HIN number.
This search will reveal a vessel’s service information, information about its tonnage, its particulars/dimensions, its official number/HIN/flag, and so forth. You can also find out the status of the vessel’s current Certificate of Documentation, when it was issued, when it will expire, etc.
What you won’t find is a vessel’s managing owner, as that information was removed from public access years ago. To find that information, you have to file for an Abstract of Title. You can do so here:
This Abstract of Title will contain the managing owner’s information as well as the identities of the vessel’s entire chain of ownership. Beyond that, you’ll also be made aware of the status of any liens/mortgages against the vessel, should they exist.