Do you have a small, foreign-built vessel that you want to use to make money in America? Are you unsure exactly how you can do so legally? Yes, the Jones Act makes it clear that American vessels, whenever possible, need to have been built in the United States to engage in coastwise trade here. However, we offer the vessel documentation online to apply for a MARAD waiver. This waiver can waive that requirement, allowing you to use your vessel for certain coastwise trades.
Who the MARAD Waiver is For
To even be eligible for this waiver, your vessel has to meet stringent requirements. Case in point, the vessel has to be at least three years old. If it’s not that old, then it isn’t going to be eligible. So, you can’t just get a new foreign-built vessel and apply. Beyond that, the vessel can only be used to carry passengers. That’s the extent of the coastwise trade. Thus, you can’t use it to transfer merchandise, only people. Even then, you can’t carry more than twelve passengers at any one time while in operation.
Using a Vessel With this Waiver
If you look at our site, we have a fairly extensive list of activities that you cannot use a vessel that’s been granted a MARAD waiver for. Specifically, you can’t use it for commercial fishing, towing, dredging, salvage – or any commercial activity that isn’t carrying up to 12 passengers at once. Yes, you can use it to catch fish, provided you’re doing so recreationally, for fun, to have a good time with family and friends, etc. Specifically, you cannot sell the fish you catch.
What to Keep in Mind About the MARAD Waiver
This waiver application form that we offer just waves the American-build requirement of the Jones Act. that’s it, It doesn’t waive anything else. So, it doesn’t waive any required vessel inspection, nor any rules/regulations in regards to vessel manning, and it certainly doesn’t waive anything in regards to vessel documentation. In fact, over the years, we’ve had several vessel owners use the MARAD Waiver to use their vessels how they wanted, and then they used our site to get all of the vessel documentation they needed. Case in point, provided a vessel is at least five net tons, they filed for a “Coastwise Trade Endorsement as a Passenger Vessel.”
A Home for Vessel Documentation Online
You don’t need to apply for a MARAD Waiver to use our site. It’s just one of the many, many forms that we offer vessel owners. You don’t even need to own a vessel right now to use our site. If you’re researching a vessel for potential purchase, for example, you can find information about vessels here through a documented vessel search or through applying for an Abstract of Title. To see everything that we have to offer as well as how we can help vessel owners such as yourself, check out our site.