Did you recently come into possession of a vessel that you want to use in a commercial capacity but aren’t sure if it was made in America? Do you have a boat that may not exactly be “new,” and you know it wasn’t made in the United States and you want to see if you can make a few bucks with it? This is a more common occurrence than many vessel owners realize. As you may know, the rules are very stringent about which vessels can engage in commercial operations in the navigable waters of the United States as well as the Exclusive Economic Zone. That said, some vessels have a waiver around some of those regulations. That’s what the MARAD waiver can do.
How to Apply for the MARAD Waiver Right Now
Applying for this waiver is much easier than many vessel owners realize. All you have to do is to go to our site, click on the MARAD link, and then fill out the corresponding form. As we’ve made sure that our site is optimized for mobile devices, you can fill out this form from just about anywhere, so long as you’re connected to the internet.
Who Qualifies for This Waiver and How it Can Help
The rules, as you might imagine, are quite strict. For example, whoever applies for this waiver has to be a US citizen (or, if it’s an organization, it has to be a US organization). Moreover, the vessel has to be at least three years old. So, yes, a vessel can be “too new” to qualify for this waiver. Another very important restriction about this waiver: it can only be used to carry passengers. You can’t use it for commercial fishing, dredging, salvaging, or anything else. Additionally, you can’t have hundreds or even dozens of passengers. In fact, you can only carry a dozen (twelve) passengers at a time when in service. If you fit all of those specifications, you could be a good fit for this waiver.
What Vessel Owners Often Do After They’ve Applied for This Waiver
Many of the vessel owners who apply for this through our site have vessels that measure more than five net tons in net volume. So, once they’ve applied for this waiver, they then apply for a Certificate of Documentation through our site, too. Specifically, they do so with a “Coastwise” endorsement, so that they can use this vessel how they would like.
Beyond this Waiver
All of the above having been said, this waiver is just one way, one reason that folks use our site. There are many, many others. For example, plenty of people uses our site so that they can get their initial certificate of documentation and then renew it for many years to come, too. Instead of going year by year, you can do it for up to five years in advance. You can see all of the ways we can help here at our site.
