Certificates of Documentation for Recreational Vessels

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 Sec. 512

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 signed into law Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 includes a provision which allows recreational Certificate of Documentation (COD) holders the ability to select a multi-year document (1-5 years) during an implementation period designated as January 1, 2019-December 31, 2021, after which a five-year document (recreational vessels only) will become automatic.

Recreational vessel owners who wish to renew for more than one year may do so by including additional fees in the amount of $26.00 per extra year requested, and annotating same on the CG-7042 Credit Card Form, or in the Memo line of checks.

Commercial vessel owners are not eligible for multi-year documents and must continue to follow the current process for requesting/renewing one-year CODs. 

To avoid delays in renewing, owners are encouraged to do so electronically via pay.gov, including Recreational vessel owners who wish to renew for a one year period.

Detailed information will be available prior to January 1, 2019 on the US Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC) website under the INSTRUCTIONS AND FORMS tab.

For further assistance, please contact the NVDC at 1-800-799-8362 or 304-271-2400 between the hours of 9:00 am and 3:00 pm Eastern Time (Standard or Daylight Savings, when applicable).