Illegal charter crackdowns

We are us built and duty paid. Which is one reason we can get cruising permits fairly easily. Also US Llc owned. I'm not sure I'd go foreign flag again. It cost about the same $22k inspections and upgrades for safety. About the same as sales tax. I will say that foreign flagged boats are inspected rigoursly. Firefighting equipment, lime throwers, safe manning requirements are demanded unlike US Flag.

Oh yes, we wouldn't want you to be forced to hire crew from the US. What a horrible shame.

I simply try to hire the best most safest crew. I interviewed 6 captains last week and on four of them I found blantant lies on their resumes. On three of them their own references failed to endorse them. I chalk this up to be some weird south Florida thing. Who would put a boss as a reference who fired the captain because he drank too much? WTF? I also find that a lot is captains don’t have experience with Flag state compliance, mini ISMs. Regardless we still only consider people with a fed tax Id.

Honestly at the budget of a large Westport I can promise that your ability to hire is 5x easier. With smaller budgets and smaller boats we need to have a large Candidate pool.

I'm not an expert, but believe the customs fee is 2% and is paid 1 time over it's life, whether it be now or 20 years ago. I believe that Danville's boat was US flagged at one point in time.

Yes, Delaware the entire cost is like $400 to register a yacht there. I have several Central American customers with new yachts and the yacht is in a Delaware corporation and the cost to register the yacht was $400 for everything besides the 2% customs fee. They're DL registered, not documented. I do have Michigan owners who set up a Florida LLC, paid the $18k in sales tax and the boat stayed year round in FL and was documented.

I don't have a problem finding and hiring US crew for trips, and only hire US crew. I have also found that the price of the US crew is pretty much the same as the foreign crew on a short term basis. I'm not sure on a yearly full time deal as I haven't been involved in that in a very long time.

There is nothing prohibiting the owner of a US flagged vessel from voluntarily carrying this safety equipment, or being proactive in their manning.

I think the key word is voluntary. Foreign flagged boats and at least those w charter endorsement are inspected yearly. And yeah it forced me to buy things I wouldn't have volunteered to buy like rocket propelled line throwers. So that's a good side effect.

And I plan on launching that line thrower in June this year when it expires!!!

Also on the topic of COI inspected vessels. In My local waters all the inspected vessels are compete pieces of **** cateramans and similar that allow 25+ people on a 40' boat. Where as a Rina classed 40m is limited to 12. It's time to correct these laws and abolish the Jones Act.

On the topic of COI inspected vessels, are you comparing apples to apples when you are looking at a 40' catamaran versus a classed 40m vessel?
Not sure why you are lumping the Jones Act in with this.

Hi, where can a person get more information on this? As noted in many of the comments, rules regarding international chartering are complex and difficult to find-or interpret clearly. Thanks

My guess is that repealing the Jones act would not spare you from the same requirements that the other inspected vessels must adhere to when carrying more than 12 in U.S. waters or ports. As far as I can tell from RINA, they provide a number of services in respect to yachts, including classification for foreign flags, but no mention of the U.S.C.G.
There's a Broward yacht (and other yachts) in San Diego inspected for passengers for hire doing cruises in the bay. Those 39.5' rails on all the decks don't do much for the lines.

In fact, it is laughable that a 40m. RINA classed vessel is being compared to a 40' passenger carrying catamaran. Even a RINA classed vessel may not meet the requirements of USCG regulations.
https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/...ternate Compliance Program/rinasupp522011.pdf

And there is a reason why the 40m vessel is limited to 12. SOLAS anyone?

lol... like the cruise ship industry?

Im curious how the bareboat industry gets away with 10-12 pax on an uninspected vessel that they provide a captain for hire.

Not sure where you’re getting that info... sounds pretty shady. Anyone can always say “they chose the crew”.

What I have found is a new law that USCG has designated the Virgin Islands waters that a bareboat is not limited to 6 persons even for an OUPV captain. As long as it’s not an inspected vessel.