Do you know what you want to use your vessel for, but aren’t sure how to keep in compliance with Coast Guard documentation? When you get to the part of the “initial” form that mentions “endorsement,” does it all seem a bit confusing? That’s perfectly understandable. As vessel owners ourselves, we wanted to make the process easier on vessel owners of all kinds in as many ways as possible. That’s how we designed our documentation center from the “ground up,” so to speak. One of the many important parts of your documentation to understand: the different endorsements.
Endorsements for Using Your Vessel How You Want
Depending on how you want to use your vessel, there’s a different “endorsement” for it. In this context, “endorsement” could be seen as a synonym for the word “purpose.” For example, two of the most popular endorsements are “Fishery” and “Coastwise.” “Fishery” is, more or less, what it sounds like. It means that you’re conducting fishery operations on the navigable waters of the United States or in the more or less two hundred mile span off of US waters, commonly referred to as the “Exclusive Economic Zone” (EEZ). “Coastwise” means that you’re engaging in, well, coastwise trade, transporting people or goods in that same area. Should that be how you plan on using your vessel, one of those is the endorsement for you.
Recreation, Registry, and More
“Registry,” in the context of endorsements, means “Foreign Trade.” So, if you’re going to use your vessel outside of US waters, then that’s probably the endorsement for you. “Recreation” means that you want to use your vessel for fun, to have a good time with those in your life. Remember: you can use a vessel that has any other endorsement for recreation, but you can only use a vessel with a “Recreation” endorsement for recreation.
What to Do If You Want to Change Your Endorsement
It’s important to get the right endorsement for how you’re going to use your vessel. But, remember: you can change these. Should you decide to change the focus of your vessel from fishing to transporting people, for example, you can use the form at our site called “Change of Endorsement / Trade Indicator.” That way, you can always use your vessel how you want.
A Documentation Center for a Vessel Owner Like You
While it’s very crucial to have the proper endorsement for your vessel, there’s so much more to vessel documentation than just that. To that end, we’ve made the documentation process as easy as possible. At our site, you can find all of the forms you might need for the life of your vessel right there on our home page. Then, you can fill them out in just a matter of minutes from practically anywhere on any device (so long as you have internet access). If you have any questions about any aspect of this, our staff is on hand to answer them at (800) 535-8570 or fill out our contact form.