Did you recently come into possession of a vessel that you aren’t sure what to do with? Do you have a small, foreign-built vessel (or vessel of unknown origin) that you’d like to use for some commercial activity? As you probably know, American law (specifically, the Jones Act) basically does everything possible to make sure that vessels that operate in American commerce are built here in the United States as much as possible. That said, the MARAD Waiver is, literally, a waiver around this. We can help you to apply for this as well as so many other forms.
How to Tell If You’re Eligible for a MARAD Waiver
The eligibility for this waiver is very specific. For example, the vessel in question has to be at least three years old (anything younger is ineligible) and has to be used for only carrying passengers. Specifically, it must be used to carry no more than twelve passengers at one time when in service (so, this isn’t going to be a large passenger vessel or anything of that nature). Additionally, you, the owner, have to be a US citizen, too. If you meet all of those qualifications (and aren’t going to break them) then you very well may be eligible for this waiver.
The Waiver Process for MARAD
When you submit this vessel through our site, our document processors go over it with the proverbial “fine-toothed comb.” Then, we pass it on to the authorities. From there, MARAD themselves publish a Public Notice in the Federal Register for 30 days. This notice contains the details of your vessel, how you plan to use it, and so forth. While that’s going on, MARAD gets to work. They look into whether or not your vessel will have a negative impact on US vessels, their builders, coastal trade, and so forth. If they find that’s not the case, then they’ll approve the waiver. They approve a strong majority of these waivers.
What Folks Usually Do After They Get This Form Through Our Site
It’s important to note that this “waiver” is basically a waiver of just the Jones Act. It’s not a waiver of any vessel documentation, manning, or inspection requirement. For the most part, after someone has sent this waive to us, they often then file for documentation as a coastwise passenger vessel. They do that should the vessel in question measure more than five net tons.
Beyond this Waiver
As you might imagine from the above section, this is rarely the last form of vessel documentation someone obtains through our site. So many of our long-term clients originally came to us because they had a vessel that fits this waiver, and then, after that, they got their vessel documented, renewed their documentation, and so much more. To see everything that we have to offer vessel owners like yourself, click on our site here.