You have your eye on a new vessel that you want to buy. Just like with any other big investment, such as a house or a car, you will need to make sure that you are actually buying what is being offered and that it is the best vessel for you. You can’t send your friendly mechanic over to check out the engine of the vessel, but you could do more research on the vessel itself, including previous ownership, by conducting a search through the USCG boat name registry. This is a collection of vessels that have been documented by the USCG, and will provide you with a lot of information about the boat you are thinking of buying.
What Can You Expect From A Boat Name Search?
When you conduct a search in the United States Coast Guard registry for a boat bearing the name of your vessel you might receive a great deal of information about the boat, or about several boats that all carry the same name. If you have the documentation number of the vessel, sometimes known as the hull number, then you may get a sole search result. However, if all that you have is the name of the boat then you will have to read through the information to try and discover which boat is the one you are interested in. You may be able to get professional assistance when conducting this search, which will make the results easier to decipher when you receive them.
USCG Boat Name: Results Of A Search
If you are able to find the relevant vessel using a name search, then you are likely to receive information relating to that boat. The most important documents you will receive related to previous owners of the vessel. This ownership should lead from the current seller of the boat to all previous owners, allowing you to trace the movements and sale records of the vessel throughout its existence. You can see where the boat came from, how old it is, and other characteristics. You will even be able to discover whether the vessel is currently registered with the United States Coast Guard, or if that documentation has lapsed. All of the information provided to you will help you to build up an idea of the vessel, and will most likely help you to decide whether it is worth purchasing or not.
Getting Help With Searching For Your Vessel
One of the biggest disadvantages with searching the vessel registry of the USCG using boat names is that there is likely to be more than one boat with the same name. In fact, if it is a very popular name then you may have over a hundred results from your search. Naturally, this does not help you if you are looking for a single boat, and you may need the help of the Maritime Documentation Center to go further into the results and find the boat that you want. For more information on how we can help you during your vessel search, call us on (800) 535-8570 today.