USCG News

What is the MARAD Waiver and How to Apply?

There are certain specific regulations that United States law has in place for the sake of domestic commerce. In the interest of prioritizing American vessel-owners and United States-built vessels, for example, the Maritime Administration has certain protections in place to regulate who has primer access to commerce between domestic ports. It’s because of this that…

US Coast Guard Vessel Documentation Q&A

I Have a Commercial Vessel. Can I Use It How I Want?  Possibly. It depends on many different factors. Those factors include the commercial activities that you would use the vessel in, whether it was built in the United States or not, the net tonnage of the vessel, and other factors.  What’s the Definition of…

Coast Guard Documentation Q&A

Q: What is a Coast Guard Documentation Number?  A: The Coast Guard Documentation Number is the official number of a documented vessel. This number is to be prominently displayed on the vessel, signifying its documented status. This number stays with the vessel for the vessel’s lifetime.  When someone sends in their form to get their…

What is an Abstract of Title and Other Maritime Registration Questions

An abstract of title refers to the record of all documents that have been submitted to the United States Coast Guard for one particular vessel. This abstract will only list the information that has been provided to the Coast Guard during the time the boat in question was registered, which means that there are probably…

You Got a US Vessel, Now How Do You Stay in Compliance?

Did you just purchase your first US vessel? Or, have you gotten your first vessel in some time, and you aren’t sure about how to proceed in getting the right documentation? We designed the Maritime Documentation Center for vessel owners of all kinds. Whether this is your first vessel or your thousandth (or any number…

The Ways Our USCG National Documentation Center Saves You Time

When you go online to find a way to complete your vessel documentation, does it feel like instead of making it easier to fill out these forms, everything you see makes it more difficult? Does it feel like it shouldn’t be that hard to complete some online forms? Those are some of the ideas we…