This latter act has been in terms repealed by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, but with the proviso (§ 22) that all foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry, which were owned on February 1, 1920, by citizens of the United States, and all foreign-built vessels owned by the United States on the date of the signing of the Act (June 5, 1920), when sold and owned by citizens of the United States, may engage in the coastwise trade so long as they continue in such ownership.
The general policy above outlined is supplemented by a further proviso of the Merchant Marine Act (§ 27) forbidding the transportation of merchandise between points in the United States, or such of its possessions as are subject to the operation of the coastwise laws, in any other than documented vessels of the United States, owned by citizens of the United States, except in the case of the vessels to whom the privilege has been extended by the provisions above referred to.
Procedure for Documenting Vessels.—
Marine documents are issued by the Collectors of Customs for the various collection districts, one district frequently including several ports. The District of Philadelphia, for instance, includes Camden, Gloucester City, Chester, Somers Point, Tuckerton, Thompson's Point, Wilmington and Lewes.
Practically each step in the process of securing the ship's papers is marked by the production or issuance of one or other of a number of important documents. These steps are as follows:
1. Presentation of Carpenter's Certificate.—
The Carpenter's Certificate, sometimes referred to as the Master Carpenter's Certificate or Builder's Certificate, is the starting point of the vessel's official status in the eyes of the government, and is the first document to be produced before the Collector. It is the vessel's birth certificate, and is required in order to fix the origin of the vessel, to secure and place on record the best evidence as to the date and place of its building, the name of its builder, and its general description, given under the oath of the builder. For the purpose of this certificate the time of building is the time of completion; the place of building is that where the hull was built. Both of these facts must appear on all marine documents. The Carpenter's Certificate is not a document of title and does not of itself vest any interest in the person holding it. It is sufficient to authorize the vessel to be removed from the district where she has been built to another district in the same or an adjoining State where its owner resides, provided it be in ballast only. This document is filed of permanent record in the Custom House where the vessel receives her papers. The difficulties frequently encountered in the way of securing the certificate of the builder himself have led to the adoption of a regulation permitting other competent evidence establishing the same facts, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Navigation.
2. Surveyor's Certificate of Measurement.—
The measurement of the boat contained in the Carpenter's Certificate not having been made by a government officer, is not an official measurement. It is therefore specifically required that there shall be produced a certificate of such an official measurement made, prior to every registry, by the Surveyor of Customs or by some person appointed by him, at the port where the vessel is, or if there be no such officer, by some one appointed by the Collector. The Surveyor is the "outside man" in the Custom House administration, the official who superintends and directs the inspectors and weighers, who visits all vessels as they arrive in port each day, and who incidentally is charged with this particular duty of measuring vessels for register. His certificate of measurement is required to show not only the measurement of the vessel, i.e., length, breadth, depth, etc., but her build, her tonnage, number of decks and masts. It is also required to state that the vessel's name and the place to which she belongs are painted on her stern. Once measured, it is not necessary that the vessel shall be measured again upon each successive register. Like all the other documents incident to the registration of the vessel, the form of this document is provided by the government and must be countersigned by an owner, or by the master, or by the owner's agent.