Although MarineTraffic has made it easier than ever before to track ships find out about the vessels age flag and its technical characteristics it can be very difficult for members of the public to understand who actually owns which ships and how the business is structured.

How to find out who owns a yacht. If the boat is documented with the Coast Guard log online and visit the Office of Science and Technologys copy of the Coast Guards database of all vessels by name. It will be printed or painted on the rear or side of the boat. The most visible feature will be the name or registration number.

If the dealer or broker listing the boat has not provided you with a report from Boat History Report ask them to provide you with the boats HIN so that you can run your own. It is the nautical equivalent of your cars number plate. For this example well assume you have accidentally collided with an unattended registered vessel while you were exiting your slip and need to locate and notify the owner.

Many people believe that if you find an abandoned boat it automatically belongs to you and yes I intentionally played into and exploited that popular misconception in the title of my first post on Wolfhound. Ive been posting a bit lately about abandoned boats and my SAILfeed colleague Clark Beek has rightly pointed out that it is high time I bloviated on the subject of salvage rights. Become a yacht broker.

It usually appears on the outside of a boats transom on the starboard side or on the starboard side of the hull. Using the license plate number or Vehicle Identification Number VIN you can access details about ownership history and find out if the vehicle has a lien on it. Check the HIN in a database that appears on the United States Coast Guard website.

If you need to find a boats owner or verify whether or not there is a lien holder research registration and documentation numbers at the state and federal levels to discover the vessels chain of ownership and any lien information. When you want to check a boats title to determine ownership the document youre looking for is called the abstract of title If the vessel is documented with the Coast Guard your task is an easy one. Navigate to the HINValid website.

The first step in identifying the owner is to identify the boat. Obtaining a Boatfacts History Report is a crucial step before purchasing a used boat. Work diligently at it for oh twenty years or so.