“Preferred Ship’s Mortgage,” “Hailing Port,” “MARAD” – vessel documentation is full of odd phrases you probably don’t hear in other walks of life. That’s just one part of the documentation that makes it a bit opaque and confusing to people, even those who have been dealing with it for years. Of course, it doesn’t help that the documentation process tends to take a long time, too. With our online forms, we’ve made that easy to deal with. We figured that we should make the other part simpler, too. Below are some definitions of terms that might be a bit off-putting, like what is a hailing port?
What is a Hailing Port?
While this may sound a bit confusing at first, really it’s just the name of a port from which the vessel hails. So, if you have a vessel that’s in, in say, Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania, then that might be your hailing port. If you have this vessel documented, then that needs to be painted on the stern of the vessel. For some, this might be the home port of the vessel, but for others, it might just be the nearest port to where you live. We make it easy to get that initial documentation, where you’ll list the hailing port. On top of that, we also have the documentation to change your port when you move to another one.
Establishing Build Evidence
For many of our forms of documentation, you have to be able to show that your vessel was built in the United States. As you might imagine, this isn’t’ the kind of thing that can just be taken on good faith and word of mouth. To show that your vessel was built in America, you have to submit a Builder’s Certification. You can’t just submit it as the owner, however, it has to be completed by an official from a company that built the vessel, or alternatively the person who oversaw or even constructed the vessel itself. You’ll also have to give the original form, too. They tend to be real sticklers about this kind of thing, so only the original will be accepted.
Can I Renew Documentation Early?
This was one of those questions we got so many times; we actually did something about it. The short answer is: yes, but if you do, you’ll actually shorten your documentation time. See, you can do it ahead of time, but then your documentation will expire at this new, earlier deadline. For example, your documentation is due in December, so you renew in October. Then, the next year, it will become due in October.
Renewing Documentation, Answering Qs and More
Instead, you can use our site to renew your documentation for up to five years in advance. You can just press a button and pay a fee, we’ll make sure to renew your documentation well into the future. That’s just one of the ways we make this process easier. For the answers to more questions, go to our site or call (800) 535-8570.