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Vessel Documentation Name Query

You can access our copy of the United States Coast Guard's (USCG) vessel data base and extract vessel characteristic, documentation, and ownership data (please read our data caveats page). This data base is updated and revised on a quarterly basis. Our query program only retrieves documentation data about vessels which usually are craft that are 5 net tons or larger and are documented by the USCG. Craft less than 5 net tons ("boats") are numbered by individual states. Refer to our vessel documentation page for information about who collects vessel documentation data, the type of data collected and for the authorization and rationale for publishing these data.

Contact the USCG Vessel Documentation Center (http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/vdoc/nvdc.htm) for vessel title and lien information. If you would like to obtain a copy of the USCG's list of documented vessels, "Merchant Vessels of the United States," purchase information is listed in the "Frequently Asked Questions" at the documentation center's web site.

Trade indicator keywords, as displayed in our vessel documentation output, and their definitions are listed below

Coastwise:	Vessel is licensed to engage in coastwise trade
Registry:	Vessel is licensed to engage in trade between U.S. and foreign ports
Great Lakes:	Vessel is licensed to engage in trade on the Great Lakes
Bowater:	Vessel is licensed to engage in limited coastwise trade; applies to about 500 barges and self propelled vessels under 500 gross tons that operate under 46 App U.S.C. 883-1
Fishing:	Vessel is licensed to engage in fisheries in U.S. navigable waters and in the U.S. EEZ
Recreational:	Vessel is licensed as a pleasure craft and may not engage in commerce unless it also holds other endorsements as listed above

Please enter the vessel's name in the box below and click on the submit button to retrieve vessel data. Suggestions to ensure getting data on a specific vessel of your choice include:

The vessel name may be entered in upper or lower case.
The vessel name that is entered must be identical to the vessel name listed in our vessel data base. You could not retrieve data for the vessel "MOONLIGHT III" if you entered the name as "MOONLIGHT 3".
The data retrieval program will return documentation and other information on up to 20 vessels based on entry of only a portion of a vessel's name. For instance, if you enter the name "ANN" you could retrieve data on vessels named ANN, ANNIE, MARYANN, BANNER, etc.
If more than 20 vessels match the name you enter, then an abbreviated listing (reporting the vessel name, year built, service, hailing port, length, and documentation number) of up to 400 vessels will be output to your monitor. Based on data in this listing, select (click on) a vessel name (in hypertext) to get complete documentation data for that vessel.
Enter the complete vessel name whenever possible because you are limited to retrieving abbreviated data on a maximum of 400 vessels per query. You probably could not get data for a craft named "SEA ROVER X" if you entered only the name "SEA" because the vessel data base has over 9,000 vessels with "SEA" in their name.

This page was last modified 11 June 2002.