USCG Vessel Documentation

Documentation filings

• Initial documentation
• Exchange of documentation
• Reinstatement
• Return to documentation
• Deletion
• Recreational endorsements
• Commercial / coastwise documentation where applicable
• Renewals and record corrections

Ownership changes and ownership structures

Who signs, and what proves their authority, is often the part that determines whether a filing is accepted.

• Individual to individual transfers
• LLC ownership
• Corporate ownership
• Trust ownership
• Estate and inheritance documentation
• Adding or removing owners and ownership percentages

Citizenship and eligibility

USCG documentation carries citizenship requirements, and entity ownership can require additional evidence about the entity and its members, shareholders, or trustees. We review eligibility before filing rather than after a deficiency letter arrives.

Foreign-built vessels

Eligibility for recreational documentation and eligibility for certain commercial or coastwise activity are two different questions. Some commercial uses can involve MARAD waiver requirements, and we coordinate that documentation where it applies.

Deficiency letters

A deficiency means the Coast Guard has identified something that must be corrected or supplied before an application can be approved. We prepare and submit the response — and we are clear about what happens next: the response still has to be reviewed before a Certificate of Documentation is issued.