F.A.Q.

Should you find yourself buying a boat without a title, there are two likely scenarios. You may have purchased a small vessel with a lost title. Or, more likely, the vessel is longer than 27 feet, and you can find its name/hailing port marked on the back. In that case, it is a USCG documented vessel.

Yes. A Certificate of Documentation may be endorsed for fishery, coastwise, registry, or recreation. Any documented vessel may be used for recreational purposes, regardless of its endorsement, but a vessel documented with a recreational endorsement only may not be used for any other purpose. Registry endorsements are generally used for foreign trade.

Yes, it does. According to the Michigan Department of State, “the U.S. Coast Guard Certification of Documentation (CG-1270) serves as proof of ownership. However, documented watercraft must obtain a Michigan watercraft registration at the regular fee.” That said, “the registration (MC) number does not have to be displayed on the vessel.”

Yes, it does. Any USCG documented vessels in the state of Oklahoma must be registered with the State. Always, the current registration has to be on the vessel and a current boat sticker must be displayed as well.

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.

At our site, you can search the Coast Guard database of documented vessels. Simply type in a vessel’s Official Number or Hull Identification Number (HIN). This will reveal the vessel’s name/number/HIN/flag, as well as its tonnage information, service information, particulars/dimensions, and more (such as the status of its current Certificate of Documentation).

Typically, a boat Hull Identification Number is issued by the vessel’s manufacturer or importer. However, if your vessel is home-built, then they can be issued by your respective State Registrars/DMVs.

Coast Guard documentation requirements for eligibility state that a vessel has to measure at least five net tons. This “net tonnage” is not a measurement of weight. Rather, it’s a measurement of volume.

USCG documented vessels require a fishery endorsement to land its catch, wherever it is caught, in the United States. This is the endorsement to engage in fishing activities on the navigable waters of the United States or in the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).

Your hailing port is where your vessel claims origin. You can choose your hailing port to be anywhere you would like, provided it is a place in the United States. Specifically, so long as it is in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 55DC, you can select a designated location or place as your hailing port. Coastal, landlocked, you can choose anywhere you would like.

Your hailing port does not have to be the vessel’s physical location nor where it resides the most. In fact, it does not have to be anywhere the vessel is registered, either.

Should you have documented your vessel with the USCG, then both the name as well as the hailing port are registered. Specifically, they’re registered on your CG-1270 Certificate of Documentation.

Vessels registered with a state (as opposed to the USCG) do not require listing a vessel’s name on the registration documentation.

To document your vessel with the Coast Guard, complete this form.

No. In fact, a USCG documented vessel cannot also have a State title. You must surrender your vessel’s State title to document/register it with the USCG. It is illegal to have a Certificate of Documentation and State Title simultaneously.
Initial USCG Documentation 
If you are a citizen of the United States and your vessel measures at least five net tons, then your vessel is eligible for documentation.