When it comes to registering and documenting commercial ships and recreational vessels in the United States, the Coast Guard is the organization in charge. A division of the Coast Guard is the National Vessel Documentation Center or the NVDC. It is the responsibility of the NVDC to take care of registration issues and to maintain a database that contains the names and documentation numbers of all the ships that have Certificates of Documentation (COD). Why do you need to know all this? If you are considering buying a boat for your private use or to operate as part of your business, knowing where you can go to perform an NVDC vessel search can come in handy.
Why do a Vessel Search?
You may wonder why a vessel search can be very helpful to you. Even though this type of search may not give you the minute details regarding a ship, or the financial information and background of a boat, it does provide you with useful data. When you search for a ship and get information, you get the documentation background of the boat, so you can see when it was last documented. For commercial vessels, this can be very important since the Coast Guard requires commercial ships to have existing documentation. The search can also inform you about the year the ship was built, so you know just how old the boat is before you decide to buy it.
Performing a Search is Easy
Performing an NVDC vessel search is a simple task to complete, provided you know where you can go to execute the search. Even though the Coast Guard is responsible for the database, you will not find access to it on the Coast Guard’s primary site, or on the website of the NVDC. Instead, you will need to search online for web pages that offer the search function so you can do it there. Once you have selected a place to search, you can type the name of the ship, or the documentation number if you have it, into the search box and press enter. That is all you need to do, and you will get results on your screen in just a few seconds.
Other Work with the NVDC
If you have done an NVDC vessel search and subsequently purchase a boat, you will want to go through the documentation process to make sure the boat is now registered in your name. To do this, you can come to us here at Vessel Documentation Online. NVDC website, you will find easy steps you can follow to complete applications for online registration. They offer the forms you need in an accessible, electronic format so that you can fill them out on your computer or tablet, upload your supporting paperwork and payment information, and send everything to us in just a few minutes. Their experts check your application over to make sure it is accurate before we pass it on to the Coast Guard for you, making the process quick and easy.
